UAE to allocate $150 million for water security solutions

Deputy Director General of the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) Omar Al Yazeedi has said that given its advancement in cloud seeding, the UAE will actively share its knowledge and experience in rain-enhancement technology to help address water scarcity in many parts of the world.

“The announcement came following the pledge made by the UAE to allocate $150 million in new funding for water security solutions in vulnerable countries,” Al Yazeedi told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the ongoing COP28 or the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Dubai.

He noted that water is on top of the UAE’s agenda at the UN Climate Summit, where water experts are actively taking part to address the challenges of global warming.

Al Yazeedi noted the UAE has been at the forefront of rain-enhancement science for more than two decades, and cloud-seeding has helped increase the country’s annual rainfall and reduced its reliance on seawater desalination.