UAE Expands Green Certification Programme to Include Factories

The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure announced on May 6, 2026, that it is expanding its National Green Certificates programme to include factories and industrial facilities, marking a new step in the country’s push toward low-emission industrial development. The announcement was made during the Make it in the Emirates event as part of broader efforts to strengthen sustainable manufacturing practices across the UAE.

Originally launched in July 2024 for commercial buildings, the programme will now cover factories, mills, production plants, and similar industrial facilities. The certification system is designed to evaluate sustainability performance based on energy efficiency, water use, emissions management, and operational innovation.

According to the ministry, the programme will use artificial intelligence technologies to assess industrial processes and measure environmental performance against international best practices. Facilities meeting the required standards will be eligible for certification and could benefit from incentives aimed at encouraging cleaner industrial operations and improving competitiveness in regional and global markets.

The initiative aligns with the UAE’s long-term sustainability agenda, including the country’s Net Zero 2050 Strategy and efforts to build a more resource-efficient industrial sector. Officials said the expansion reflects the government’s intention to accelerate the adoption of clean technologies while establishing national benchmarks for sustainable industrial development.

Factory-level green certification with AI-driven performance assessment is a meaningful step toward operationalising the UAE Net Zero 2050 strategy for industrial emitters, and the incentive structure will start rewarding early movers. Our energy-transition and impact-assessment teams help manufacturers evaluate certification readiness, energy-and-water efficiency investment cases, and how the resulting data feeds ISSB S2 and jurisdictional disclosure obligations.