A gas-guzzling fossil fuel exporter trying to spearhead more ambitious climate action, the United Arab Emirates remains heavily dependent on hydrocarbons for its prosperity.

The carbon footprint

The UAE may be a small country of only nine million inhabitants but it emitted 237 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2021, according to the Global Carbon Atlas — without including methane and other greenhouse gas emissions.

The United Kingdom, for comparison, emitted 348 million that year for a population of 67 million people.

The Gulf state ranks at 25 tonnes of CO2 emitted per person, higher than its fossil fuel-producing neighbor Saudi Arabia (18 tonnes) but below the record-breaking Qataris (40 tonnes) in 2021.   

The tallies do not account for the oil and gas exported by these countries to other nations: they solely consider the CO2 emitted directly by inhabitants and businesses — reflecting an economy and a way of life still heavily reliant on the combustion of oil and gas.

Energy-intensive construction and cooling activities flourish as gleaming skyscrapers sprout from the once-barren desert and air conditioning is ubiquitous in the scorching heat.

Electricity in the Emirates is nearly entirely produced by burning gas (82.5 percent in 2022).

Renewables only account for five percent of its power, and a burgeoning nuclear capacity has seen atomic power's share jump to almost 13 percent in 2022, according to the energy think tank Ember.

The climate ambition

In July, the UAE announced an updated climate action strategy, joining a growing list of nations committed to tripling renewable energy production by 2030.

It unveiled plans to slash emissions in everything from industry to transport, including a new focus on electric cars.