The United Arab Emirates has joined the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, becoming the first Arab country in the international network. A programme launched by President Sheikh Mohamed and institutions including Khalifa University guides the research effort. Its stated aim is to build national capabilities and place Emirati scientists inside international research networks.
A national programme, an international network
Launched in 2023, the Emirates Polar Programme sits at the centre of the UAE's Antarctic and Arctic research effort. The National reported last December that the UAE had become the first Arab nation to commit to scientific research under the Antarctic Treaty System, which reserves Antarctica for peaceful purposes and guarantees freedom of scientific investigation.
Mariam Almheiri, head of the International Affairs Office at the Presidential Court and chairwoman of the Emirates Polar Programme Steering Committee, called SCAR membership “an important milestone for the Emirates Polar Programme and the development of our national capabilities in polar science.” Her words make the dual aim plain: international co-operation, alongside national capacity and a growing role for the UAE.
“Scientific progress in the polar regions is built on international co-operation, shared knowledge and long-term partnerships,” Almheiri said. She said the committee would open pathways for Emirati scientists to contribute to research, work with scientific institutions and build expertise. The Emirates Polar Programme and the Polar Research Centre at Khalifa University are delivering those opportunities, as researchers develop expertise and work with established polar programmes on environmental monitoring and field research.
This is a state-backed scientific apparatus, not a grassroots research network. The account names the programme, university and officials who direct or represent the work. It offers no budget figures, details of public oversight or account of how communities beyond the named institutions will shape the research agenda. That leaves the central promise—building national scientific capacity—clearer than the terms for funding that capacity or holding it accountable.
Research access, and what remains unspecified
UAE researchers can join SCAR's international research and expert groups. The groups bring specialists together to study ice-sheet dynamics, Southern Ocean change, permafrost and geological history. Membership also gives early-career Emirati scientists opportunities to access committee fellowships, research placements and international scientific exchanges. The article describes routes into established scientific institutions; it doesn't name independent or community-run alternatives.
Dr Aisha Al Suwaidi, professor of Earth science at Khalifa University, said the UAE looked forward to contributing to shared priorities and building partnerships. She also said the programme would bring artists and storytellers together with scientists, so Antarctica's story reaches society as well as laboratories. Committee president Gary Wilson said the Emirates Polar Programme already has several strong Antarctic research programmes, and SCAR looked forward to including Emirati researchers in its work.
One public-facing example gets a name. Dr Hussain Khansaheb, an Emirati marine engineer, joined an Antarctic expedition to raise awareness about climate change. Dubai Holding named him its inaugural National Sustainability Champion, and he wants to share lessons from the journey with students in the UAE. The report gives no further detail on the expedition's organization or resources.
Antarctica has no permanent human population and supports minimal terrestrial life. Yet it holds nearly 70 per cent of the world's freshwater, locked in ice accumulated over millions of years. Winter temperatures can fall below minus 60°C, and changes in the ice are reshaping oceans and coastlines far beyond the poles as global temperatures rise. The stakes are planetary; the programme described here is national, and its access points are institutions.