The UAE in numbers

Fewer tonnes per person, but still four times the world

In the 1970s the UAE had a tiny population and a booming oil industry, so emissions per person were enormous: over 70 tonnes in 1973. As the population grew into the millions, that figure fell. But at 20.1 tonnes per person in 2024, the average UAE resident is still responsible for more than four times the CO₂ of the average person on Earth.

From almost all gas to almost a third clean in ten years

In 2014, 99.7% of the UAE’s electricity came from burning natural gas. Then the Barakah nuclear plant and giant solar parks came online. By 2024, nuclear supplied 22.9% and solar 8.6%. Gas still dominates at 68.3%, and total demand keeps rising, but the mix has shifted remarkably quickly. Switch to share of total to see it clearly.

A country that is already two degrees warmer

Each bar is one year’s average temperature across the UAE, compared with the 1991–2020 average. Blue years were cooler, red years warmer. The ten warmest years in the record all came after 2009, and the last decade averaged about 2.0°C warmer than 1940–1969. The hottest year so far was 2021.

A note on certainty: ERA5 is a reanalysis that combines weather observations with a model. There were far fewer weather stations in this region in the 1940s and 50s, so the early years carry more uncertainty than recent ones. The warming trend itself is clear either way.

Using fourteen times the water nature replaces

This measures how much freshwater a country withdraws compared with how much renewable freshwater it naturally has. Anything above 100% means using more than rain and rivers replenish. The UAE withdraws 1,437% of its renewable supply, bridging the gap with desalinated seawater and ancient groundwater that doesn’t refill. Here it is next to the other countries on Greenly’s partner map.

Six times the world’s energy use, per person

Cooling buildings through the summer, desalinating water and running heavy industry all take energy. In 2025 the UAE used about 128,700 kWh of primary energy per person, more than six times the world average of about 20,300 kWh. Of the 79 countries in the Energy Institute’s 2025 data, only three used more: Iceland, Qatar and Singapore.

The numbers are big. So is what’s already changing.

None of this is a reason to give up. Every chart above also shows something moving: clean electricity went from nothing to a third in a decade. These Greenly features go inside the work.