OUR planet has been witnessing unprecedented levels of natural disasters in the form of devastating floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes etc for the last few years and especially this year coupled with the onslaught of catastrophic pandemic of COVID-19. Environmental scientists and climate activists have been warning the world about the impending disasters if the world as a whole would not manage their acts which overburden the Earth stretching its resources and tipping the balance.
The natural calamities over the last few decades are proving their foresight and the world started paying the price for disturbing the nature beyond limits. As such, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), taking place in Glasgow in the United Kingdom from November 1 to 12, is of paramount importance as it demands strong and committed pledges from the world leaders, especially the developed world, to limit their emissions of harmful gases to meet the ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality before 2050 and cut dangerous greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030 from 2010 levels.
The Cabinet meeting in Qatar on Wednesday approved the national climate change plan, bringing into focus the government’s commitment in tackling the menace of climate change and helping the world achieve the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality. Qatar’s commitment includes diversifying its economy, building capabilities and using natural resources in the best possible manner.
The strategic plan was prepared in coordination with 50 entities inside the state and it involves introducing legislations and other systems to guarantee the expected goals. The country has also planned national projects that adopt tangible measures to help limit emissions, including establishing the biggest carbon capture project in the Middle East and North Africa region, improving efficiency of the hydrocarbon toxicity treatment, launching Tarsheed programme to conserve electricity and water consumption, building a solar power station with a capacity of 800MW etc. The country is gearing up to host the first Qatar Climate Change Conference this year.
The event ,organised by Qatar Foundation with the Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah International Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development as strategic partner, will take place on September 13, bringing together insight on climate change from the world of policymaking, industry and academia. Qatar has been an active player in the global efforts to mitigate damage caused to the environment by partnering with several international organisations and countries. Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, during a speech at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019, pledged $100m for supporting the small developing island state and the least developed states to deal with the repercussions of climate change.
Qatar played host to the COP18, held from November 26 to December 8, 2012 at the National Convention Centre in Doha, which resulted in several commitments on emission targets and especially commitment from the developed countries to financially support their less developed counterparts.
