UAE EPI Ranking Shows Waste Management Score At 100
Economy Middle East reported that the UAE ranked first in the Arab world in the 2026 Environmental Performance Index and recorded a 100 score for waste management. The EPI-linked account cited renewable energy investment, AI-powered mangrove drones and satellite monitoring, with project-level waste capacity and audited restoration results outside the public summary.
The UAE ranked first in the Arab world in the 2026 Environmental Performance Index and scored a perfect 100 for waste management, placing it first globally in that category.
Economy Middle East reported that the result was supported by investments in environmental infrastructure, regulatory reform and technology-driven data systems.
The 2026 EPI evaluates countries across 47 performance indicators in 12 issue categories and three policy objectives: Environmental Health, Ecosystem Vitality and Climate Change.
Alongside its waste-management score, the UAE recorded 100 for bottom trawling fisheries, indicating that no marine life is caught through bottom trawling within its maritime zones.
The country received a wastewater-treatment score of 94.99, ranking 19th globally.
It also ranked first in the Arab world and ninth globally for protecting marine Key Biodiversity Areas, and second in the Arab region for marine habitat protection.
Energy, water and environmental infrastructure
The UAE linked the ranking to a wider sustainability programme involving federal and local authorities, the private sector and communities.
Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said the progress reflected a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach and built on the environmental legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
The UAE Energy Strategy 2050 aims to triple the contribution of renewable energy while directing between AED150 billion and AED200 billion toward energy investment by 2030.
Installed renewable-energy capacity expanded by 117 percent between 2022 and 2025.
A $6 billion, 5.2 GW solar photovoltaic project near Abu Dhabi is being developed by Masdar and EWEC.
The project includes a 19 GWh battery energy storage system and is expected to become the world’s largest continuous solar-plus-storage facility, capable of supplying round-the-clock clean baseload electricity.
Water security is another part of the programme.
The Al Taweelah Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant, described as one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind, is intended to improve water efficiency while reducing desalination’s environmental footprint.
The UAE is also advancing green-hydrogen technologies as it seeks to become a global production and export hub.
Technology-backed restoration and monitoring
The UAE aims to plant 100 million mangrove trees by 2030 and has already planted more than 50 million across the seven emirates.
Protected terrestrial and marine areas cover more than 19 percent of the country’s territory.
AI-powered heavy-lift drones are being used to disperse mangrove seeds across difficult-to-access coastal areas.
Machine-learning systems and satellite monitoring measure blue-carbon sequestration, track seedling growth and monitor air quality in real time.
The National Air Quality Agenda 2031 adds advanced monitoring technologies, stricter emissions controls and optimized urban planning to the environmental strategy.
The Circular Economy Policy 2031 promotes sustainable manufacturing, green infrastructure and resource efficiency while encouraging cleaner production methods.
The EPI also noted that wealth often correlates with environmental performance, but that strong governance remains a key differentiator among leading countries.
For the UAE, the combination of a global-leading waste-management score, expanding renewable capacity and protected marine and terrestrial areas forms the measurable basis of its first-place position among Arab nations.
