News report by Salem Al-Methen
ABU DHABI, Nov 30 (KUNA) -- The annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as the Conference of the Parties (COP28), kicked off on Thursday in Dubai Expo City, lasting until December 12.
COP is considered the primary decision-making body of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with the participation of representatives of 197 countries which signed or are parties to the UNFCC, and thousands of experts and journalist in the field of climate change.
UAE President Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan welcomed the international community for the start of COP28 in Dubai, through a post on social media platform known as X.
The conference aims to discuss ways to fight climate change, which increased and has a negative outcome on human rights, he added.
State of Kuwait has been reiterating commitment to the international agreements to cut gas emissions to building a system capable of addressing future challenges.
Kuwait is also moving forward to achieving New Kuwait Vision by insuring that 15 percent from the local electricity is renewable energy by 2030.
Kuwait's Minister of Electric, Water and Renewable Energy Jassem Al-Ostad had affirmed to KUNA that His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, made clear instructions to construct renewable energy stations in order to provide clean and cheap energy on one hand, and honor Kuwait's commitment in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 on the other hand.
He added that Kuwait will face power shortage in the coming years so that the planned approach is to invite corporates or consortiums to establish clean energy stations in what is known as the Independent Power Provider (IPP), adding that these companies would be building solar energy stations that provided clean and cheap electricity.
For his side, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil Nimer Al-Malek Al-Sabah stressed the importance of Kuwait's participation in COP28 and other ministerial meetings before the conference to unite the international efforts regarding climate change.
These meetings are of great importance because it shows the international community's ability to achieve and deliver a clear message on protecting the climate and looking into related important issues, Shiekh Nimer Al-Sabah said to KUNA in a previous statement during his participation in the COP28 preliminary meeting.
He expressed aspiration for fruitful valuable discussions in the conference, amid the participation of world leaders to enhance efforts to reduce emissions from the current energy system and cooperate to build a system capable of keeping pace with future requirements and challenges.
COP28 is scheduled to witness the first global assessment of the ongoing efforts for two years to determine the extent of progress made by the concerned authorities in implementing climate action plans, to face global warming and other environmental issues.
The world has been witnessing outbreaks of forest fires and their spread to cities that are experiencing extreme heat, leading to drying up agricultural lands and storm-swept coasts, in addition to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere, resulting mainly from burning fossil fuels, is leading to serious consequences.
Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently warned that about 3.5 billion people are already living in places prone to climate change, expecting that by 2050 more than one billion people living on small islands and in low-lying coastal population centers are to be exposed to the risk of sea level rise and extreme weather conditions.
Climate change increases social and economic inequality in terms of endangering the less fortunate's lives, or causing loss of resources and may increase poverty.
In March 2023, IPCC, the leading authority in climate science, confirmed that global temperatures were rising to record levels, warning of the consequences of countries not taking adequate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The panel urged countries to reduce emissions by disposing fossil fuels gradually, stopping deforestation, and expanding the scope of renewable energy. (end) skm.ahm.seo