Dubai, UAE: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced receiving the Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) certificate from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the successful offset of carbon emission during the 18^th edition of Water, Energy, Environment Technology Exhibition (WETEX 2016).

According to a press release available on its website, the utility said that the certification was achieved by trading carbon credits (CDMs), approved by DEWA’s projects based on the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC. The exhibition’s carbon emissions, the press release revealed, were neutralised with carbon balances approved for the cooling of air ducts for gas turbines of the Jebel Ali L-Station. The project, the press release added, exceeded the initial targets by reducing 55,373 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 39,824 tonnes in equivalent greenhouse gases during 2013 and 2014.

The utility said that H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, received the certificate from the UNFCCC, in the presence of Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at DEWA, and a team from DEWA’s Sustainability and Climate Change Department.

“Our environmental strategy,” Al Tayer said, “focuses on reducing carbon emissions based on the best integrated green practices at all levels of our operations to reduce the carbon footprint, in adherence with the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to reduce carbon emissions and streamline our transition into a green economy. This supports the long-term ‘A Green Economy for Sustainable Development’ initiative, launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to develop a green economy in the UAE.”

He emphasised that the certification reflects DEWA’s commitment to achieving sustainable development and the Dubai Carbon Abatement strategy to reduce carbon emissions by 16% by 2021, in adherence with the Dubai Plan 2021.