Madame President, thank you for coordinating this dialogue and it is truly a great privilege to hear from Professors Ressa and Bengio. As you both highlighted, we are greatly in need of more neutral, accurate information and expertise on AI which you and the fellow panelists are providing, and we are very proud that one Emirati colleague, Dr. Tuka AlHanai, is working with you on the panel.

The UAE aligns itself with the statement made by Uruguay on behalf of the G77 and China and the statement by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on behalf of the League of Arab States. We would like to raise just a small number of points which have not been covered yet.

The process you have outlined for the report drafting is highly impressive, and the set of thematic clusters seems to cover well the most pertinent issues for the future of AI and its governance.

Some priorities for the UAE at the upcoming Global Dialogue on AI Governance will include how we can expand the opportunities of AI for Development, how we can improve safety and responsible use of AI, and the rights of women, children and persons with disabilities in respect of AI.

We would be interested to know whether the report covers inclusion for those with disabilities, since this was not mentioned. We also wanted to enquire whether the societal applications section will include the deployment of AI in humanitarian work, including in the work of the UN itself.

Finally, we share the belief that the infrastructure around AI will be of essential importance, and today I would like to emphasize the implications of AI for energy, water, and the environment.

While AI is already exhibiting positive contributions to water and energy management, there seems to be a risk that the advancements of AI will impact progress on climate action, and we would appreciate any further detail on whether the report will address issues such as sustainable data centers, water recycling, and deployment of renewables in the powering of AI.

This is a topic that we hope will also be addressed at the UN Water Conference, which the UAE and Senegal will co-host in Abu Dhabi in December.

Thank you once again, and rest assured of the UAE’s full support in reviewing, amplifying and exploring follow-up action to the first panel report.