Following the recent COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, stated that COP28 will be the nation’s most important event in 2023.

Sheikh Mohammed, while addressing the UAE Government Annual Meetings, which reviewed the significance of the UAE COP28, emphasized that hosting the climate summit will be a significant milestone for the country.

With countries eager to examine the agreement’s progress for the first time during COP28, over 140 leaders of state and government, as well as 80,000 attendees, are expected to attend the worldwide event, which will be held in Expo City Dubai. 

Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, also stressed the importance of the UAE hosting the conference during the session, adding that “the COP is a global political, economic, scientific and social platform to achieve commitments to reduce the impact of climate change through negotiations and to assess the progress in climate action.”

WE THE UAE 2031

At the session, Sheikh Mohammed also laid out his vision for We The UAE 2031 on the first day of a two-day government session of senior officials. 

One of the objectives for We The UAE 2031 is to double GDP from $405 billion to $816 billion and double the number of visitors to 40 million, contributing a sizable chunk to the GDP. 

The future of education, legislative changes, Emiratization, COP28, economic alliances, and the digital future were among the six issues covered during the annual government meetings in Abu Dhabi.