Museveni in  Abu Dhabi  for sustainability summit that seeks to drive climate change talks ahead of Cop28

President Museveni has Sunday morning left the country for United Arab Emirates(UAE) on a three day visit where he will meet and hold talks with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.

During the three day visit, the president will also attend the Abu Dhabi sustainability summit.

“The president will also attend the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Summit and hold talks with government officials and the business community from the UAE,” Sandor Walusimbi, the senior presidential press secretary said .

The summit

In Abu Dhabi, the Ugandan president will join fellow leaders  at the  Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), the global initiative championed by the UAE and its clean energy powerhouse Masdar to accelerate sustainable development.

The summit set to drive the discussion around climate change before  Cop 28.

The event will take tomorrow, January 16 and will focus on a wide range of critical topics such as food and water security, energy access, industrial decarbonisation, health and climate adaptation.

“For over 15 years, ADSW has reinforced the UAE’s commitment to addressing global challenges as a responsible leader driving climate action and sustainable economic development. The world needs a just and inclusive energy transition that supports the needs of developing nations while ensuring a more sustainable future for us all,” Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Special Envoy for Climate Change and chairman of Masdar said last year.

“ADSW 2023 will help shape the sustainability agenda and drive momentum toward Cop28 in the UAE by convening the global community and facilitating meaningful dialogue to foster consensus, ground-breaking partnerships and innovative solutions.”

The summit that  kicked off yesterday and will run up  to January 19 will bring together heads of state, policymakers and industry leaders for a series of dialogues on the transition to a net-zero future.

President Museveni has in the past accused Europe of "brazen double standards" towards Africa in its climate and energy policies.

The Ugandan leader lashed out at Europe's return to coal-fired power plants in the face of the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine while at the same time telling African nations not to use fossil fuels.

"We will not accept one rule for them and another rule for us," Museveni wrote in a blog published last year to coincide with the UN's COP27 climate summit taking place in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh last year.

"Europe's failure to meet its climate goals should not be Africa's problem," he added.

Museveni said European nations needed to end their "brazen double-standards" and "hypocrisy", and took aim at what he said were conditions that Western investment in fossil fuels in Africa was possible only for oil and gas that would be sent to Europe.

"We will not allow African progress to be the victim of Europe's failure to meet its own climate goals," said Museveni, one of Africa's longest serving leaders.

"It is morally bankrupt for Europeans to expect to take Africa's fossil fuels for their own energy production but refuse to countenance African use of those same fuels for theirs."

The president however noted that while the developed world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Africa on the other side should play its part in stopping the destruction of forests and wetlands, which has contributed to adverse climate change effects.

He said   African countries need to restore the wetlands and forests that have been destroyed.