United Arab Emirates Environment - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

air pollution; rapid population growth and high energy demand contribute to water scarcity; lack of natural freshwater resources compensated by desalination plants; land degradation and desertification; waste generation, beach pollution from oil spills

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 39.44 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 206.32 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 56.55 megatons (2020 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 617 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 69 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 3.312 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

150 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Climate

desert; cooler in eastern mountains

Land use

agricultural land: 4.6% (2018 est.)

arable land: 0.5% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.5% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 3.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 3.8% (2018 est.)

other: 91.6% (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 87.3% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 1.5% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Major infectious diseases

note: widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is occurring throughout UAE; as of 6 April 2021, UAE has reported a total of 472,148 cases of COVID-19 or 4,773.8 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 15.29 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 23 February 2021, 35.2% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 5,413,453 tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 1,082,691 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 20% (2015 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding United Arab Emirates on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United Arab Emirates 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United Arab Emirates 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.