New Policy to Regulate CCUS Activities Across the Emirate
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – On January 16, 2026, the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) of Abu Dhabi officially launched a new Carbon Capture Policy. This landmark policy is designed to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) activities throughout the emirate. The initiative underscores Abu Dhabi's commitment to its long-term decarbonization strategy and its broader environmental sustainability goals.
Driving Decarbonization and Economic Diversification
The newly introduced policy is set to play a pivotal role in strengthening Abu Dhabi's position as a regional leader in low-carbon innovation. Officials stated that the framework will support environmental sustainability by enabling significant reductions in carbon emissions across various sectors. Beyond its environmental objectives, the policy also aims to foster a diversified and sustainable economy by stimulating job creation and attracting crucial investments into advanced carbon management technologies. This strategic alignment of climate objectives with economic development priorities is expected to enhance the global competitiveness of local industries.
Core Pillars of the Regulatory Framework
The comprehensive Carbon Capture Policy is built upon several key pillars to ensure effective implementation and widespread adoption of CCUS technologies. These include:
- Defining clear operational standards for CCUS projects.
- Enabling coordinated development of essential infrastructure.
- Creating favorable conditions to encourage robust private-sector participation.
- Optimizing the utilization of Abu Dhabi's domestic geological resources for secure, long-term CO2 storage.
- Improving investment efficiency through the development of shared carbon capture and transport infrastructure, which is expected to lower deployment costs and accelerate scale-up in hard-to-abate sectors.
- Strengthening both domestic and international collaboration among government entities, industry players, and technology providers to drive innovation and accelerate the commercial rollout of emissions reduction solutions.
UAE's Broader Climate Ambitions
This policy reflects the United Arab Emirates' broader commitment to international climate action and the conservation of natural resources. CCUS is recognized as a critical technology for reducing emissions, particularly from heavy industry and energy sectors. The UAE has set an ambitious target to achieve 5 million tons per annum (MTPA) of CCUS capacity by 2030. Significant contributions to this goal are anticipated from entities like Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which plans to expand its CCUS operations, including the Habshan CCUS project with an expected capacity of 1.5 MTPA. The policy also aligns with the objectives outlined in the Abu Dhabi Energy Outlook 2050, which maps pathways towards achieving net-zero targets and addressing challenges such as the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
5 Comments
ZmeeLove
Progress! This policy shows serious commitment to climate action.
Habibi
Carbon capture is essential. Glad to see such strong policy support.
Comandante
Establishing clear regulatory frameworks is a positive development for any emerging technology like CCUS. My main reservation is whether the proposed capacity targets are ambitious enough to make a real difference, given the scale of current emissions.
Donatello
The economic benefits and international collaboration aspects are certainly appealing for Abu Dhabi. Yet, we must critically evaluate if carbon capture truly addresses the root cause of climate change or merely postpones the inevitable shift away from carbon-intensive practices.
Michelangelo
While the commitment to decarbonization is commendable, the reliance on CCUS still feels like a way to avoid transitioning fully to renewables. It's a useful tool, but not the whole answer.