The United Arab Emirates has become the first Arab country to join the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the international organisation that coordinates science on the frozen continent. Its membership, as an associate member, was approved in August at a delegates’ meeting in Oslo and announced in early October.
The country’s participation will be delivered through the Emirates Polar Programme, launched in 2023, and the Polar Research Centre at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi. Emirati researchers can now join the committee’s expert groups, which study topics such as ice-sheet dynamics, changes in the Southern Ocean and the region’s geological history.
Membership also opens doors to fellowships, research placements and international exchanges for early-career scientists. SCAR president Gary Wilson welcomed the country and highlighted the Antarctic research programmes the UAE already runs.
Antarctica holds close to 70% of the planet’s fresh water, and changes in its ice are already being felt in oceans and coastlines around the world. More scientific cooperation means more knowledge to meet those challenges.
