Dubai Chamber of Commerce launched a solar and renewable energy business group to drive uptake of renewable energy amongst businesses and the private sector in Dubai.
With renewable energy at the forefront of the government agenda, the chamber’s move to set up the new business group is seen as a significant step, especially at a time when the UAE is preparing to host the COP28 conference later this year.
“As the world shifts to a renewable energy and decarbonised economy, the establishment of the solar and renewable energy business group is timely and relevant,” said Maha AlGargawi, executive director of business advocacy at Dubai Chambers.
“It comes at the heels of UAE’s COP28 presidency, highlighting the importance of the country’s Energy Strategy 2050 and Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy,” she said.
AlGargawi said the new business group would foster better understanding of the clean energy targets amongst local businesses, while providing them insights to drive the shift to renewable energy.
“This will boost their efforts to support and accelerate Dubai’s energy transition and the ambition of making the emirate a hub for the green economy,” she said.
Over the last couple of decades, the share of oil in the UAE’s gross domestic product (GDP) has considerably decreased.
From approximately 43 percent in 2001, this share dropped a third of GDP to 33 percent in 2011 and much lower to 27 percent in 2021.
Announced in 2017, the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 aims to reduce the carbon footprint on power generation by 70 percent, improve energy efficiency by 40 percent, increase the contribution of clean energy from 25 percent to 50 percent and save a total of AED700 billion. The UAE has since launched notable initiatives and taken significant steps towards realising these goals by 2050.
The UAE Government is to invest AED600 billion in renewable energy by 2050 to meet the country’s growing energy demand from clean and sustainable resources.
L K Verma, managing director at Power n Sun and founding member of the business group said, “Creating organisations such as this is important for our sector. It will drive the discussions that are necessary to enhance the competitiveness of our business and enable the dialogue amongst peers and other stakeholders on speeding up the solarisation in the region.”
Business groups play a crucial role in recommending policy changes to improve a sector’s competitiveness and attractiveness, while promoting international best practices and supporting economic growth.
Dubai Chamber of Commerce plans to increase the number of economic sectors and activities represented by business groups to 100 by March 2023.
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