UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON UAE’S REGULATIONS

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UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS ON UAE’S REGULATIONS
Introduction
In its basic definition, climatic change refers to the rise in average temperature of the earth due to
long-term effects of human activities. Evidences pointing to climate change include but not
limited to increased incidences of flooding, rise in sea level and breaking of icebergs. All these
have an effect of changing weather patterns throughout the world leading to unpredictable
devastating weather phenomena.
According to Pacoma (2019), all nations have their own set of environmental laws and
regulations to curb climatic change, there is need to develop certain common agreements
applying to all nations regarding global warming. The common objective of these agreements is
to ensure that there is concerted effort by all nations to reduce the effects of global warming and
implement the agreed policies within their respective jurisdiction. Over time, a list of
international agreements and treaties have been put in place to mitigate the environmental
impacts caused by climatic change. Some of them include:
 Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that contains the Kyoto Protocol
and the Paris Agreement.
 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) of Geneva
 Aarhus Convention on Access to information
 The Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation
Like any other nation, United Arab Emirates has shown a lot of commitments in the protection
and management of biodiversity that face a threat of extinction from the effects of global
warming (Robert, 2014). UAE is geared towards eco-tourism and has created natural reserves
that in the long-run would improve the natural environment as well as protecting the country.
This was clearly demonstrated when they took part in the COP 22 United Nations Climate
Change Conference held in Morocco in 2016.

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Significance of the study
The knowledge on climatic change enables us to effectively mitigate the impacts caused as a
result of global warming. This study will be of great importance in the context of UAE, since the
region is grappling with issues of rapid population growth, higher depletion rates of natural
resources and large consumptions of energy.
The report released by the Ministry of Climate Change & Environment (2017) shows that the
continued and widespread effects of climatic changes in UAE have led to significant increases of
atmospheric temperatures causing long-term effects of water scarcity. The adverse effects of
climatic change are already witnessed in some parts of the region through encroachment of
aridity and desertification, making the region even more vulnerable to other effects of global
warming like food scarcity and malnutrition as well as other health issues especially in children
and the elderly.
In light of the above problems, it is fair that adequate measures be put in place in terms of
policies and international agreements so as to prevent further detrimental effects of global
warming, which has become a matter of interest for every nation in trying to preserve their
environment in order to meet the already set Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Literature Review
Over the recent years, the UNFCC climate change conference has elicited a range of reactions
from both scientists and environmental activists especially on the topic of loss and damage to the
ecosystem. Consequently, various approaches have been proposed to counteract the undesirable
effects of climate change, as explained by Gunster (2010) in his work. This section of the paper
therefore presents the methods of approach used in the implementation of the existing policies
and international agreements, their impacts on the existing regulations as well as their success
rates with specific focus on the UNFCCC.
The UNFCC report (2012) reveals that the extent of loss and damage to biodiversity due to
climatic stressors like extreme weather conditions and long-term shift of weather patterns pose
significant setbacks to socioeconomic development of countries worldwide. According to the
Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (2007), the areas most likely to be affected by the
impacts of climatic change are already experiencing shifts in socio-environmental factors.

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This necessitates the need to embrace approaches that will lessen such impacts when they
eventually begin to manifest. Some of the anticipated losses and damages include loss of human
life, damage to property, economic and non-economic losses.
According to Boycoff (2010), disaster risk reduction is an effective approach used before the
actual impacts of the extreme climatic events occur. These risk reduction approaches include
wise management of land resources by implementing policies on the protection of forest reserves
and other available natural resources that could be easily depleted in the event of extreme
climatic changes.
Measures taken for non-structural risk reduction normally focus on planning and behavioral
changes. They increase the level of awareness in preparation for the imminent impacts of
climatic change and include contingency planning, disaster risk reduction plan, early warning
systems, forecasting, adequate land-use planning and public awareness. On the other hand,
structural measures of risk reduction give due consideration to infrastructural development to
lessen the impacts of climate change. They include engineering interventions, retrofitting for
reinforcement and improving building codes and standards as well as regulations around such
codes; a concept illustrated by Dotson et al. (2012).
Other approaches include risk retention, risk transfer and managing the environments to reduce
the impacts of climatic variability. All these approaches have had effects on the existing
legislations of the member countries, as they are being incorporated and implemented for a
common objective.
The UAE Green Agenda 2015-2030 was launched with the objective of making the region a
global hub and exemplary model of sustainable development, a strategy that would significantly
reduce the anticipated impacts of global warming in the region.
Analysis
Corbett (2014) postulated that the topic of climate change has been given great attention in the
UAE and consequently, significant efforts have been exerted to publicize the issue and address
its impacts on various fields and sectors. The UAE has embraced important environmental
policies and regulations in order to combat the impacts of climate change.