Dubai, UAE, September 11, 2026 – Alida Ban Pavlović, legal expert and executive director of Oikon MEA, took part as a panellist at the World ESG Summit in Dubai this week, joining Dr. Beliz B. Tecirli for a fireside chat on how ESG ambition moves to execution on giga-scale developments.
Alida opened with the external legal factors that shape what developers and their consultants are actually required to deliver: the commitments of countries under the UNFCCC, and the latest UAE Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0), which commits the country to a 47% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 compared with 2019 levels, with specific targets set for major sectors. For a giga-project, these national numbers are not background context. They determine which carbon assumptions in a masterplan will hold up over a development cycle that runs for a decade or more.
But the obligations reach far beyond giga-scale projects and governments’ international commitments. Alida reminded the audience that small and medium-sized enterprises are equally in scope of UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 11 on the Reduction of Climate Change Effects, which operationalises the country’s Net Zero 2050 national strategy by requiring businesses to measure, report, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The law came into force on 30 May 2025 and applies to every public and private entity in the UAE whose operations generate greenhouse gas emissions, of every size. The full compliance deadline for all entities was 30 May 2026.
Her closing reminder to the audience concerned enforcement. This is a binding legal framework, not a voluntary reporting exercise, and it carries the prospect of inspections and penalties for non-compliance.
Questions of scope, baselines, and reporting obligations rarely have a generic answer. If you are working out what the UAE climate framework means for your own operations, our team in the UAE is available for a conversation.
