Leading Countries in Terms of Pollution and Emission

Question: Describe about the Essay for Leading Countries in Terms of Pollution and Emission? Answer: Introduction The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Paris, 2015 to discuss about a global collaboration among countries for reducing climate change (Stokman and Thomson 2015). The agreements that were finalized in the meeting will only be valid if at least 55% of the main polluting nations agree to the conditions and apply the new proposed structure in their general administration system (Carraro et al. 2015). The agreement will be signed between April 2016 and April 2017 (Jacobson 2015). Goals were also set to reduce global warming and limit it to less than 2C (Almansoori and Betancourt-Torcat 2015). In this report, the effects of the decisions made in UNFCCC on the energy policies of United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the major oil producing nations of the world. This report mainly focuses on the existing energy policies of UAE and an analysis on how the UNFCCC meeting outcomes will bring a change in the existing energy policy structure of the country. Another focal point of this report will be the analysis of UAEs proposed plans to reduce use of fossil fuels, which are responsible for greenhouse gas emission, and introduce the use of green and renewable energy sources in their general industrial set up. Moreover, this report also provides some recommendations for the country to implement their new energy policies successfully and maintain their economic development. Discussion United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the major oil-producing nations of the world and a leading nation in terms of fossil fuel combustion and pollution (Khondaker et al. 2016). However, UAE have pledged full commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Paris Conference, 2015 (Podobnik 2015). According to La Torre et al. (2015), UAE also accepted the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) model structure in order to help developing countries that are highly dependent on the fossil fuels produced by countries like UAE (Schmidt and Huenteler 2016). The action structure proposed by UAE was in harmony with the objectives of UNFCCC and is likely to benefit both adaptation and mitigation of developing countries (Jayaraman et al. 2015). Following the UNFCCC of 2015, UAE have implemented a new national development structure named Vision 2021 (Carraro et al. 2015). The main focus is mainly based on a strategy of Green Growth, which supports the use of renewable and environment friendly energy sources instead of fossil fuels and non-renewable energy sources (Almansoori and Betancourt-Torcat 2015). This strategy is also important for social and economic development of the country by providing sustainable resources (Jacobson 2015). Effect of UNFCCC on UAE Energy Policies: New Energy Policies After the UNFCCC recommendations, the UAE administration members designed a new energy policy for the country (Mondal et al. 2016). This included several new policies (Gherboudj and Ghedira 2016). Target for Clean Energy UAE is the first country of its region to design a Clean Energy policy for supporting uses for renewable and sustainable sources of energy (Vergnetti et al. 2016). According to Khondaker et al. (2016), since the planning, UAE has progressed far in using environment friendly energy sources. In addition, they have recorded the lowest price of solar energy in the whole world (Wang et al. 2016). They have set targets to further exploit sustainable energy sources like nuclear energy (Froggatt and Schneider 2015). Upgrade of Heavy Industries and Oil Gas Sectors Owing to its huge oil reserves, UAE has many heavy industries and refineries that consume a large amount of fossil fuels for operation (La Torre et al. 2015). For this reason, these industries emit huge amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and hence, cause massive environmental pollution (Podobnik 2015). UAEs National Oil Company was the first company to promote less gas flares, which are the main reasons for emission of greenhouse gases (Gherboudj and Ghedira 2016). Additionally, carbon abatement procedures are to be introduced in heavy industries for increasing efficiency of resources (Froggatt and Schneider 2015). In addition, UAE has also applied this policy in steel manufacturing industries, where steel products are processed to be used as instruments in oil fields (Wang et al. 2016). Water and Energy Efficiency UAE has undertaken a new policy to reduce demands for non-renewable energy sources and water by introduction of renewable and sustainable energy sources (Mondal et al. 2016). For this, the administration has applied the following measures (Almansoori and Betancourt-Torcat 2015): Reform of Tariff UAE have reduced tariff values for clean and renewable energy sources to promote their use in industries and other sectors (Lema and Lema 2016). They have also restructured the tariff structure for all energy sources for reducing pollution to a certain extent by 2021 (Carraro et al. 2015). Efficiency Standards A major portion of pollution in UAE comes from construction of large buildings (Al Awar 2015). The UAE government has aimed to reduce this pollution by introduction of green buildings, which involve use of eco-friendly construction materials (Stokman and Thomson 2015). Several efficiency standards have also been applied to regulate energy usage and efficiency (Jacobson 2015). Demand Management UAE government has also designed a new policy to raise public awareness and manage public demands (Khondaker et al. 2016). This policy includes new structure of water and electricity bills, which gives residents more details about their daily consumption (Podobnik 2015). District Cooling Due to extreme climate in UAE, most of the energy consumed in residential areas involve use of air-conditioning devices (Carraro et al. 2015). Initiatives have been taken by the government to apply a district cooling process instead of individual cooling (Wang et al. 2016). Efficiency Standards for Appliances After the declarations in UNFCCC, UAE government has set new efficiency standards for air-conditioning devices and other electronic appliances (La Torre et al. 2015). This enables the government to monitor usage and efficiency of appliances and replace inefficient ones (Jayaraman et al. 2015). Transport Infrastructure Transport is another major polluting sector of the country (Lema and Lema 2016). Most of daily public and private vehicles use petroleum as the fuel, the combustion of which emits large amount of greenhouse gases (Al Awar 2015). To decrease this, UAE government has introduced a new category of vehicles that run on natural gas (Froggatt and Schneider 2015). Natural gas combustion produces much lesser amount of greenhouse gases (Mondal et al. 2016). Moreover, UAE government has funded in research for exploring the use of solar energy in vehicles (Almansoori and Betancourt-Torcat 2015). Using solar powered cars and natural gas powered vehicles will decrease the amount of pollution to a large extent (Khondaker et al. 2016). The country also applied emission standards for vehicles and imposed ban on vehicles, which surpasses emission standards (Gherboudj and Ghedira 2016). Waste Sector UAE government has also designed a specific policy for treatment of waste materials (Jacobson 2015). They have applied federal laws to control waste disposal and land filling (Mondal et al. 2016). This also includes fixed planning for disposal of wastes (Stokman and Thomson 2015). For application of these policies, UAE government has structured several strategies in general (Froggatt and Schneider 2015). These include: Awareness and Capacity Building This strategy mainly involves all the people living in the country (Carraro et al. 2015). For application of all regulation policies, the foremost objective will be to raise awareness among residents (Wang et al. 2016). In addition, every detail of the plan should be given to the residents so they understand the policies, their advantages and limitations (Jacobson 2015). As opined by Al Awar (2015), Local institutions and sectors also need to be addressed to promote use of environment friendly and efficient technologies (Podobnik 2015). Unique Circumstances of UAE Almansoori and Betancourt-Torcat (2015) said that, due to adverse climatic and geographical conditions, UAE faces unique challenge in application of new energy policies (La Torre et al. 2015). Therefore, it takes a lot of planning and strategy for the implementation of energy policies (Jayaraman et al. 2015). Specific Strategies UAE government acquired specific strategies to focus on the main problem areas (Khondaker et al. 2016). They also addressed needs for mitigation measures of greenhouse gases (Lema and Lema 2016). Challenges and Opportunities As discussed in the UNFCCC conference, Paris, UAE faces several challenges to adapt with climatic conditions and implement new energy policies (Gherboudj and Ghedira 2016). It also involves economic development of the country and future global recession in oil and gas usage (Al Awar 2015). The primary action plan of the country involves three distinct objectives (Lema and Lema 2016). It demands a proper outline of a distinct plan for strengthening the capacity of local sectors to realize the disadvantages of climate change in the regular economic development policy (Stokman and Thomson 2015). This is mainly because mitigation of greenhouse gases emission in UAE will have a significant impact in the economic structure of the country (Khondaker et al. 2016). According to Almansoori and Betancourt-Torcat (2015), the plan also demands a distinct strategy to address local sectors to identify, evaluate and combine actions to adjust with the change in climate within the development level in the country (Carraro et al. 2015). This strategy framework focuses on addressing risks regarding climate change while adapting to it (Jacobson 2015). The plan also aims to address various sectors to evaluate measures for achieving reduction of greenhouse gas emission (Froggatt and Schneider 2015). This also involves investment opportunities in a new mechanism of clean development (Wang et al. 2016). Recommendations After conducting a close study on the new energy policies of UAE in accordance with the proposed strategies at the UNFCCC, several measures can be recommended. UAE faces many challenges for enforcing of energy plan, for the diverse climatic, geographical and cultural conditions. Moreover, the new energy policies pose a threat to the existing economic structure of the country, since majority of the countrys income comes from the export of oil and gases (Mondal et al. 2016). Another major challenge is the difficulty of enforcing energy policies due to already lavish lifestyles of the high-class people of the country, who will not readily accept change in energy policies. These conditions pose severe threat to the countrys new policies following the UNFCCC conference. However, the energy policies should be implemented quickly by removing all the risk factors for saving the environment from destruction. First, UAE should plan new strategies to adapt with climatic conditions (Lema and Lem a 2016). The country should increase productivity of other natural resources so that it does not rely too much on the oil export for economic development. After ensuring these, the next part of the plan will be to raise awareness among all classes of people so that they understand the adverse effects of pollution and greenhouse effect. If all these can be successfully implemented, UAE will reduce a large amount of pollution from their heavy industries, transport system, and still maintain a stable economic system. Conclusion Finally, it can be concluded that before the UNFCCC conference in 2015, UAE was one of the leading countries in terms of pollution and emission of greenhouse gases. After the conference, UAE readily accepted action plans to reduce pollutions and already implemented several plans successfully. They are one of the foremost countries who readily accepted pollution measures and applied them in their administration policies. They have made a distinct plan, the Vision 2021, in which they aim to reduce pollution to a certain extent within 2021 by implementing new energy policies. In spite of being a major oil-producing nation, they accepted the need to use renewable and sustainable energy sources. In addition, they have provided funds for the research regarding exploitation of solar energy for daily use. The UAE government has also implemented several measures for conservation of energy and increasing efficiency of appliances. In this report, implications of UNFCCC, 2015 on the energy polic ies of UAE, the challenges faced by the government and target goals have been discussed. Moreover, several measures have been recommended for the proper application energy policies in the country. References AlAwar, M., 2015. Management of Water Resources in the UAE.International Journal of Environment and Sustainability (IJES),3(4). Almansoori, A. and Betancourt-Torcat, A., 2015. Design optimization model for the integration of renewable and nuclear energy in the United Arab Emirates power system.Applied Energy,148, pp.234-251. Carraro, C., Edenhofer, O., Flachsland, C., Kolstad, C., Stavins, R. and Stowe, R., 2015. The IPCC at a crossroads: Opportunities for reform.Science,350(6256), pp.34-35. Froggatt, A. and Schneider, M., 2015. Nuclear Power Versus Renewable EnergyA Trend Analysis [Point of View].Proceedings of the IEEE,103(4), pp.487-490. Gherboudj, I. and Ghedira, H., 2016. Assessment of solar energy potential over the United Arab Emirates using remote sensing and weather forecast data.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,55, pp.1210-1224. Jacobson, M.Z., 2015. Clean grids with current technology.Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA,112, pp.15060-15065. Jayaraman, R., Colapinto, C., La Torre, D. and Malik, T., 2015. Multi-criteria model for sustainable development using goal programming applied to the United Arab Emirates.Energy Policy,87, pp.447-454. Khondaker, A.N., Hasan, M.A., Rahman, S.M., Malik, K., Shafiullah, M. and Muhyedeen, M.A., 2016. Greenhouse gas emissions from energy sector in the United Arab EmiratesAn overview.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,59, pp.1317-1325. La Torre, D., Jayaraman, R., Malik, T. and Pearson, Y.E., 2015, March. A polynomial goal programming model with application to energy consumption and emissions in United Arab Emirates. InIndustrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015 International Conference on(pp. 1-6). IEEE. Lema, A. and Lema, R., 2016. Low-carbon innovation and technology transfer in latecomer countries: Insights from solar PV in the clean development mechanism.Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Mondal, M.A.H., Hawila, D., Kennedy, S. and Mezher, T., 2016. The GCC countries RE-readiness: Strengths and gaps for development of renewable energy technologies.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,54, pp.1114-1128. Podobnik, B., 2015. Global energy inequalities: exploring the long-term implications.journal of world-systems research,8(2), pp.252-274. Schmidt, T.S. and Huenteler, J., 2016. Anticipating industry localization effects of clean technology deployment policies in developing countries.Global Environmental Change,38, pp.8-20. Stokman, F.N. and Thomson, R., 2015. Forecasting the Paris 2015 UNFCCC Negotiations. Vergnetti, G., Wang, Y. and Tsai, I.T., 2016. Economic and Environmental Effects of Using Onboard Desalinated Ballast Water from Oil and Natural Gas Trade as a Source of Water Supply for Abu Dhabi.International Journal of Environmental Science and Development,7(3), p.185. Wang, Y., Almazrooei, S.A., Kapsalyamova, Z., Diabat, A. and Tsai, I.T., 2016. Utility subsidy reform in Abu Dhabi: A review and a Computable General Equilibrium analysis.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,55, pp.1352-1362.