European Commission President Visits UAE Ahead Of COP28

European (EU) Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to meet the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi ahead of COP28.

UAE will be hosting the highly anticipated COP28 summit this year in Expo City Dubai from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12.

EU President Von der Leyen took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday to share that both European Commission and UAE want COP28 to succeed.

"Thank you President @MohamedBinZayed for the excellent exchanges today," she wrote alongside the photos. "We both want to make COP28 a success and I look forward to our continued cooperation. We will work across the board to reinforce UAE-EU relations."

During the meeting, both leaders discussed the climate crisis and the importance of supporting all efforts to reach sustainability targets alongside the upcoming COP28 event, which will be attended by world leaders and environmental advocates.

The President of the United Arab Emirates and the EU Commission President also explored ways to boost relations between the UAE and the EU.

The meeting was also attended by COP28 President-Designate, Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, who also serves as Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology alongside Minister of State for International Co-operation, Reem Al Hashimy; Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi; Minister of Investment, Mohamed Al Suwaidi and European delegation.

The discussion took place one day after Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Masdar, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company signed an agreement to build and operate the sixth phase of the landmark Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which was developed to provide clean energy to 540,000 residences in the city and reduce carbon emissions.

Besides working internally, the UAE is also helping other countries to generate clean energy. For instance, earlier this week, the COP28 President-Designate announced that the country will be providing $4.5 billion to support Africa's clean energy projects.