ABU DHABI - Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) marked World Environment Day 2026 by highlighting its efforts to advance climate action and support biodiversity conservation as part of the UAE's sustainability agenda.

Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Environment Day 2026 is held under the theme, ‘NowForClimate’. It serves as a global call to address the pressing challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

This integrated approach aligns directly with EWEC’s mandate to accelerate the UAE’s transition to a decarbonised and sustainable future. The environmental impact of EWEC's strategic roadmap is highly measurable.

By spearheading the transition to renewable energy and low-carbon-intensive reverse osmosis (RO) desalination technology, EWEC forecasts that by 2035 total carbon dioxide emissions will have decreased by nearly 46 percent relative to 2019 levels, and solar is expected to provide around 40 percent of total power generation.

"World Environment Day reinforces the principle that climate action extends beyond emissions reductions," said Adel Alsaeedi, Senior Vice President of Project Development at EWEC. "By integrating sustainable infrastructure with science-based conservation, we are supporting long-term economic growth while protecting the UAE's natural heritage."

EWEC is increasing Abu Dhabi’s solar capacity from 990 megawatts (MW) in 2020 to a forecasted 17.5 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. By commissioning some of the world’s largest single-site solar power plants, EWEC projects that installed solar capacity will exceed 30GW by 2035, resulting in the average carbon dioxide intensity from electricity generation falling significantly by 51 percent, from 335 kilogrammes per megawatt hour (kg/MWh) in 2019 to 162kg/MWh by 2030.

EWEC’s climate action strategically extends beyond physical infrastructure. Through its landmark collaboration with Emirates Nature-WWF, the UAE’s environmental NGO, EWEC is directly scaling up conservation impact across the UAE, enhancing biodiversity, and strengthening climate resilience.

This partnership supports comprehensive action across nature and wildlife protection, climate action, the green economy, food and water security, and civil society mobilisation.

Furthermore, EWEC has also joined the UAE Alliance for Climate Action (UACA), and its employees participate in Emirates Nature-WWF’s Leaders of Change programme, engaging in specialised workshops and conservation field trips that support critical habitat restoration.

The company said its strategy supports the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative through the deployment of renewable energy, advanced technologies and environmental partnerships.