Image copyright AFP Image caption Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has previously called for a Paris climate agreement in the UAE
The UAE says it will host the next high-level climate conference COP28 in 2023, underlining its commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The announcement is a sign of good health in the efforts to secure a universal deal to cut carbon emissions, the World Meteorological Organisation said.
Alessandro Petriccelli, head of the WHO’s climate change division, told the UAE capital’s official news agency WAM: “With this, the UAE joins a growing number of countries which have chosen to use their hosting capabilities to reaffirm their leadership and commitment to a climate change-friendly future.”
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said the conference would be an opportunity for nations to “take further action to achieve the goals agreed in Paris.”
COP28 was signed at the end of 2015 by 148 countries including the UAE at the third United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, Morocco.
Image copyright AFP Image caption The COP28 conference was announced following discussions in the UAE
In December 2018, the host nation will be revealed by UN member countries at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice, Poland.
The next UN climate meeting will take place in 2020 in Katowice.
Image copyright EPA Image caption The UAE hosts the World Expo every two years
Denmark has indicated it will again host the 2020 meeting, alongside Poland and the Netherlands.