1. PattonBoggs.com Client Alert 1
JULY 8, 2013
This Alert provides only general
information and should not be
relied upon as legal advice. This
Alert may be considered attorney
advertising under court and bar
rules in certain jurisdictions.
For more information, contact your
Patton Boggs LLP attorney or the
authors listed below.
SIMON HARRISON
+61 (7) 3211 9992
sharrison@pattonboggs.com
ABU DHABI
ANCHORAGE
DALLAS
DENVER
DOHA
DUBAI
NEW JERSEY
NEW YORK
RIYADH
WASHINGTON DC
CLIENT ALERT
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ACTION PLAN
ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS
RELEVANCE FOR THE UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES
On Tuesday, June 25, President Barack Obama presented his Administration’s 21-
page Action Plan on climate change. The Plan synergizes with actions already
underway across the UAE.
The President committed the United States to cutting greenhouse gases to the
range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, acknowledging that in 2012 the
United States suffered no fewer than 11 major weather and climate disaster events
that brought both human tragedy and more than $ US100 billion in estimated
damages.
The President stated that whilst limits are in place for arsenic, mercury, and lead,
the United States allows power plants to release “as much carbon pollution as they
want” and that failure to act on climate changes would mean that “[we] betray our
children and future generations.”
The Patton Boggs Climate Change, Energy and Resources practices, in
conjunction with a number of international consultancies, can help companies
take advantage of the opportunities the international component of the
President’s plan will create for business and industry. The UAE’s mobilization of
all sectors of its economy resonates with the President’s declaration that U.S.
scientists will create new fuels and that farmers in the United States will grow
them. “Our engineers [will] devise new sources of energy, our workers will build
them, and our businesses will sell them,” said the President. The work being
undertaken by MASDAR , IRENA, UAEU and the Urban Planning Council to

2. PattonBoggs.com Client Alert 2
name just a few are testament to the UAE’s focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation, transport
and sustainable building design.
The global problem of climate change determined that a large section of the President’s Plan is devoted to
international initiatives and finance. In particular, the President called for a mobilization of international climate
finance recognizing America’s bi and multilateral collaborations which will be given further impetus.
The President signaled his intention to negotiate global free trade agreements in environmental goods and services,
including clean energy technologies such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal particularly, which currently stands at
roughly $ US481 billion annually.
The financing of carbon abatement measures and the significant income streams that can be generated through, for
example carbon offsetting projects, will be of particular interest to the UAE and the newly established Green Climate
Fund, which is now on its way to raising $US100 Billion per year by 2020, will play a large part in that. Patton Boggs
finds significant interest in the regulatory and project management work the firm can undertake in the UAE in
developing carbon offset and food and water security projects, thereby providing additional revenue streams and costs
savings for the nation. Such projects are made even more attractive when coupled with joint funding through Islamic
finance and the Green Climate Fund contribution, and the President’s emphasis on international financing is to be
welcomed.
The President stated America’s call for climate resilient investments during his speech. It can be expected that this
“resilience” component will increasingly become a perquisite in international trade. Therefore, identifying
international, and in country, regulatory mechanisms to satisfy the definition of “climate resilience” will be an
increasingly complex task for business and industry.
The President gave prominence to the push for programs to improve and disseminate energy efficient technologies,
the development of innovative financial risk management tools to support low emission development strategies that
help countries to identify the best ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while growing their economies, and
increased long term investment funding for clean energy technology to approximately $US7.9 billion for the fiscal year
2014.
In response to requests from business, industry and the UAE Government, Patton Boggs will be delivering,
together with a number of international consultants, a number of such programs in the UAE in September.
In particular, these workshops will deal with the creation of additional revenue streams and costs
efficiencies, carbon offsetting projects, food and water security solutions, and technologies and innovation.

3. PattonBoggs.com Client Alert 3
Other components of the President’s plan include:
→ Establishing the first ever federal rules in respect of carbon pollution from power plants to prevent, as the
President said, “power plants from releasing as much carbon pollution as they want”
→ Facilitating up to $US8 billion in (self-pay) loan guarantee authority available for advanced fossil energy
projects accelerating efficiency gains in the buildings sector
→ Proposals for land and water resources conservation and maintaining agricultural sustainability
→ Increasing transport fuel economy standards and developing and deploying advanced transportation
technologies
→ Drought preparedness and longer-term resilience strategies
→ Establishing a new goal for energy efficiency standards
→ Reducing barriers to investment in energy efficiency
→ Supporting communities as they prepare for climate impacts
→ Promoting resilience in the health sector
→ Promoting insurance leadership for climate safety
Should you have any questions regarding the developments addressed in this Client Alert, please contact Simon
Harrison at sharrison@pattonboggs.com or +61 (7) 3211 9992. For more information regarding the firm’s climate
change, energy and resources practices, visit www.pattonbogs.com.