His Excellency Eng. Awaidha Al Marar, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, received His Excellency Xavier Chattel, Ambassador of France to the UAE yesterday, to discuss common goals, energy challenges and opportunities for collaboration as both countries seek to maximize energy system efficiency and the deployment of low carbon technologies to support their net zero by 2050 ambitions.

HE Al Marar and HE Chattel underlined the importance of leveraging partnerships, Research & Development, and policymaking capabilities to advance Abu Dhabi and France’s collaboration on new clean renewable energy carriers like green hydrogen and innovative nuclear energy technologies and new designs, such as small modular reactors which are scientifically proven as viable zero-emission power generation solutions.

With the perspective of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference COP28 which will be hosted in Abu Dhabi in 2023, the two parties acknowledged their mutual interest in building stronger clean energy and technology cooperation between Abu Dhabi and French private and public companies to achieve the objectives set forth by the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the  two countries’ shared aspirations for net zero by 2050.

Attending the meeting were H.E. Ahmed Mohamed Al Rumaithi, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, as well as a number of DoE energy policy and strategic affairs subject matter experts.