Emirates: The UAE and Japan have signed an initial agreement to explore opportunities in developing hydrogen.

The Emirates’ energy and infrastructure minister, Suhail Al-Mazrouei, signed the deal with Japan’s economy minister, Ejima Kiyoshi at a virtual event on Friday.

“This agreement pursues the cooperation to exchange information related to hydrogen production, building the supply chain and transport to Japan, and exchanging information to develop regulations and policies,” Al-Mazrouei said in a statement carried by WAM.

He said the deal will help the UAE diversify its energy mix, and achieve its goals of reducing the country’s carbon emission by 70 percent over the next decades.

“We also aim to diversify the future energy mix, and raise the contribution of clean energy to the total energy mix produced in the country to 50 percent,” he added.

Gulf countries have pursued a cleaner energy mix in recent years, in line with global standards primarily set in the Paris Climate Agreement.