TL;DR
- The UAE's GHG reporting framework applies to covered businesses operating in the UAE, including entities in mainland UAE and financial free zones, with major compliance obligations taking effect by 30 May 2026.
- Non-compliance fines range from AED 50,000 to AED 2,000,000 per violation, doubled for repeat offenders within two years.
- Every covered entity must report Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions via MOCCAE's National MRV Transparency System.
- If you have not yet registered on the MRV portal, start immediately — registration, data collection, and submission take time.
- If your organisation already manages cybersecurity or data-privacy compliance, this is a new, parallel compliance obligation that belongs in your Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) programme now.
UAE GHG reporting deadline 2026: what businesses must do before 30 May
The UAE's Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024 makes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting mandatory for every business operating in the country — and the compliance deadline is 30 May 2026, weeks away. If your organisation has not yet registered with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment's (MOCCAE) National Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) Transparency System and prepared Scope 1 and 2 emissions reporting, it may already be exposed to UAE climate compliance risk, with penalties reaching AED 2,000,000 for serious violations.
Who this is for: Chief Risk Officers, compliance managers, and sustainability leads at mid-market and enterprise organisations operating in UAE mainland and free zones.
The UAE has accelerated its climate and sustainability regulatory agenda since hosting COP28 in December 2023. Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024 established a national framework for climate change mitigation and introduced mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions measurement, reporting, and verification obligations for covered entities. Unlike some jurisdictions that phase in reporting requirements over extended periods, the UAE has set a relatively near-term compliance timeline, with key obligations taking effect by 30 May 2026.
According to MOCCAE guidance, covered public and private entities operating in the UAE — including entities within financial free zones such as the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) — are expected to measure and report Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions for the preceding calendar year through the national MRV framework. This is no longer a voluntary ESG exercise; the UAE has established a mandatory and enforceable climate reporting regime.
The UAE's GHG framework aligns with international standards including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard, which means organisations that have already done voluntary reporting under TCFD or CDP have a head start — but those that have not face a compressed timeline.
The law applies broadly to entities operating in the UAE, including:
The primary decree does not currently publish a clear universal size threshold or comprehensive exemption framework. Until MOCCAE issues more detailed implementing guidance, organisations operating in the UAE should assess whether they fall within the national MRV reporting regime rather than assuming they are exempt.
Organisations must measure and report:
Reporting must be submitted through MOCCAE's National MRV Transparency System, the official government portal for climate disclosures.
Fines for non-compliance under Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024 are:
Given the scale of fines and the proximity of the deadline, this must be treated as a board-level compliance obligation, not a sustainability team initiative.
With the deadline weeks away, the priority is speed without cutting corners on data quality. Work through these steps immediately:
If you are starting from scratch, prioritise Scope 1 and Scope 2 — Scope 3 (value chain emissions) is not yet mandated under the current decree.
This is a permanent, annual compliance obligation. The 30 May 2026 deadline covers the first mandatory reporting cycle, but the law establishes an ongoing framework. Organisations that treat this as a one-time exercise will find themselves under-resourced for subsequent cycles.
For GRC and compliance teams, this creates a new, recurring workstream that sits alongside existing obligations such as the UAE Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), UAE Central Bank cybersecurity and operational risk requirements for financial institutions, and sector-specific regulatory obligations enforced by authorities such as the Dubai Financial Services Authority. ESG compliance is now a permanent line item within the GRC programme — not a separate sustainability track.
Managing GHG reporting alongside cybersecurity, privacy, and sectoral compliance frameworks manually — across spreadsheets and disconnected tools — increases the risk of errors, missed deadlines, and inadequate audit trails.
6clicks is built as Sovereign GRC Infrastructure, designed for organisations operating in environments where data sovereignty, regulatory complexity, and auditability matter most. The Middle East is exactly that kind of environment.
Specifically, 6clicks helps with:
Deploy on your terms, not ours.
The 30 May 2026 deadline is weeks away. If your UAE entity has not yet registered on MOCCAE's MRV portal, begin today.
Book a call with the 6clicks Middle East team to see how Sovereign GRC Infrastructure can bring your GHG reporting, cybersecurity, and privacy compliance into a single, audit-ready programme. GRC that works where others can't.