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The UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has launched the National Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system, which streamlines procedures and boosts efficiency to meet the country’s net zero 2050 strategy.
The new system is the first-of-its-kind integrated national platform in the region that combines the monitoring of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollutants, and aims to support the National Air Quality Agenda 2031, according to a Ministry statement.
The MRV system enables various national and local entities to collaborate on monitoring and reporting emissions through a unified, user-friendly platform, and support decision-makers in formulating evidence-based policies.
It will also enable the private sector to assess their decarbonisation progress and their roadmap towards reaching net zero targets.
Alanoud Alhaj Al Ali, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for the Green Development and Climate Change Sector, said that the system targets to achieve a set of key objectives, most importantly, consolidating the UAE’s leadership by enhancing its compliance with the transparency requirements and international climate action requirements under Article 13 of the Paris Agreement.
The national MRV system was developed over a span of four years. The foundational phase (2021 and 2022) involved a comprehensive analysis of the current situation and a review of global best practices. During this period, relevant partners from the government and private sectors were identified, data and international methodologies were determined, and the project’s institutional and governance framework was developed.
The second phase (2023 to 2025) focused on the system’s design and development, undergoing three successive pilot phases for rigorous testing and operation, leading to the launch of the final, ready-for-use national version.
“By re-engineering and fully automating data collection processes, we have successfully built a national model that frees our partners from complex administrative burdens and directs their energies toward achieving strategic goals,” added Dr Alanoud.
The MRV system has simplified procedures and boosted efficiency, reducing the timeframe for preparing emissions inventory reports from 15 months to 3 months, saving over 80 percent of the time.
The workflow was streamlined from 11 complex steps to 4 simplified and automated ones, and on the governance level, communication channels were consolidated from over 240 entities and partners to 7 main coordinating bodies.
The ministry conducted over 200 bilateral meetings and 20 specialised workshops with all partners at the federal, local, and private sector levels to align roles, standardise methodologies, and ensure the highest levels of data accuracy and reliability, Dr Alanoud stated
The system also plays a key role in achieving the objectives of the “Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme.”
A national MRV system is vital for the development of structured carbon markets.
(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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