A planned $3.4 billion coal-fired power plant in Dubai instead will be converted to use natural gas, the sheikhdom announced, amid the United Arab Emirates’ wider pledge to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the Associated Press reports.
The announcement Thursday came in a statement quoting Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and CEO of the group owning the long-haul carrier Emirates.
Its construction comes as the world is warming, mainly due to rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, according to the vast majority of peer-reviewed studies, science organizations and climate scientists. By far, most of the increase in temperature is the result of human activity, which includes burning coal, oil and natural gas. Those warming temperatures fuel extreme weather, such as powerful storms.