The United Arab Emirates and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) announced on Monday a strategic partnership to support 20 developing nations in strengthening their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), under the NDC Partnership, to raise climate ambitions and drive urgent action.

Announced on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York during a joint UAE-IRENA event, the partnership seeks to leverage the UAE’s climate and renewable energy leadership, and build on IRENA’s pivotal role in supporting NDC development under the NDC Partnership while charting the sustainable energy future.

Renewable and clean energy solutions will play a critical role in helping countries achieve and raise the ambitions of their NDCs. The first Global Stocktake at COP28, resulted in the UAE Consensus and provides a roadmap to drive a just energy transition and achieve the Paris Agreement goals through the tripling of renewable power capacity by 2030.

The UAE-IRENA partnership is designed to prioritise and address the specific challenges faced by developing economies, such as limited technical capacities and access to financial support, to develop and achieve more ambitious national climate and energy plans, as the world seeks to limit global warming to 1.5 C.

The partnership will provide the 20 developing economies with the support to develop more detailed and quantifiable renewable energy targets across all sectors, aligning national energy plans with their NDCs.

Dr. Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, highlighted the UAE’s commitment to supporting climate frontline communities, saying: “Bridging the gaps between current NDC ambitions and the targets we need to achieve before the end of the decade is a critical challenge of the climate crisis, and one that we must work together to fix, and swiftly.

“The UAE is proud to collaborate with IRENA and help empower developing countries to accelerate their energy transitions by enhancing the effectiveness of their NDCs. This partnership marks a promising step towards ensuring that nations can raise and meet their climate targets, and contribute to global efforts to limit warming to 1.5 C.”