Although we are still six months away from the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has expressed its interest to host the next edition of the event in 2023.

An official bid was submitted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Group.

He said: “The UAE has all the capabilities, expertise and ingredients to host the twenty-eighth session, especially since climate action is one of the main pillars of our national economic strategy and our internal and external policies.

“The UAE’s keenness to cooperate with all parties to make this conference a success, which will be held at a critical stage in which the international community seeks to make progress on the commitments made in the Paris Agreement.”

The country hosts the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) headquarters.