As part of the Dubai Airshow 2025 Sustainability Programme, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates convened a high-level session on Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) in cooperation with the Dubai Airshow, underscoring the increasing momentum around international cooperation on decarbonizing the aviation sector.
The session was part of the EU Green Diplomacy Weeks initiative organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the UAE together with the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI) and the EU-Funded EU-GCC Cooperation on Green Transition Project, and was attended by senior policy makers, industry experts and stakeholders to share insights on how to scale up sustainable fuel production, facilitate policy frameworks and how to strengthen cross-regional collaborations.
Conversations centered around the alignment of strategies to hasten the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuels, which is an important step towards net-zero emissions in the aviation sector.
The discussion underscored the mutual compatibility of the EU’s RefuelEU Aviation Regulation, requiring a 2 percent SAF blend by 2025 with a 70 percent target by 2050.
The Net Zero will be implemented by 2050, Strategic Initiative, and the National Hydrogen Strategy of the UAE, which favors clean fuels as the cornerstone of a diversified and sustainable energy mix, and the ICAO shared global outlook toward aiming to cut CO2 emissions in international aviation by 5 percent by 2030 by using SAF.
Ambassador of the European Union to the United Arab Emirates, H.E. Lucie Berger, said, “The European Union and the UAE share a common ambition to lead global efforts in sustainable aviation. By working together, we can unlock innovation, scale up clean fuel production, and create the partnerships needed to achieve climate neutrality.”
Assistant Undersecretary for the Petroleum, Gas, and Mineral Resources Sector at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of the UAE, H.E. Eng Saif Ghubash, added that “Sustainable aviation fuels are essential to achieving our national net-zero goals. Through collaboration with the EU, we aim to accelerate local production, strengthen supply chains, and advance policies that support a greener aviation future.”
This session is a part of the overall initiative of the EU in the context of the EU-GCC Cooperation on Green Transition Project that facilitates collaboration on energy, environment, and sustainable finance in the Gulf region to help achieve net-zero ambitions and a more resilient global energy transition.
