During the first half of 2026 and across all Emirates
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 2026: The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), in cooperation with local authorities across the UAE, conducted 30 joint inspections during the first half of 2026. The inspections targeted 269 establishments, including pet shops, livestock and bird markets, nurseries, and other outlets.
The campaigns are part of the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to enhance compliance with environmental legislation and regulations. They aim to improve the efficiency of monitoring and field-inspection systems while supporting environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources to promote sustainability. Specialised teams assess whether establishments are complying with laws and regulations and ensure their practices align with approved frameworks including animal welfare laws, environmental safety regulations and legislation governing international trade in endangered species.
His Excellency Marwan Abdullah Al Zaabi, Assistant Undersecretary for the Regions Sector at MOCCAE, said: “These inspections reflect the Ministry’s commitment to fostering partnerships and integrating the roles of federal and local authorities. This collaborative approach strengthens the efficiency of the monitoring ecosystem, reinforces environmental legislation nationwide, embeds a culture of compliance, and increases adherence among establishments to the laws and requirements governing their activities.”
His Excellency added: “The Ministry places great importance on raising public awareness of environmental legislation, regulatory frameworks, and the penalties associated with violations, as awareness is a fundamental pillar for promoting voluntary compliance. At the same time, the Ministry continues to enforce these laws while educating all stakeholders, including traders and breeders, on their significance in ensuring the sustainability of related sectors and in achieving our developmental objectives across areas such as food security, biodiversity, and nature conservation.”
During the first half of the year, the campaigns led to multiple legal actions against non-compliant establishments. These included referring 104 establishments to the appropriate authorities and committees for further legal procedures, issuing warnings to 45 establishments to correct their status, closing 31 establishments found violating applicable legislation, and suspending the activities of 16 establishments until violations were addressed and legal requirements met.
The campaigns also targeted establishments involved in related activities that had not completed the required procedures. The Ministry, in collaboration with economic development departments, issued circulars to the owners of animal-related businesses, urging them to regularise their operations and to refrain from operating without the necessary licences from the Ministry. A grace period was provided before any legal action would be taken against the establishments that failed to comply.
A More Effective Monitoring Ecosystem:
The Ministry continues to enhance its monitoring and compliance system by updating procedures and adopting digital solutions to improve the efficiency of legislative enforcement. It has introduced measures to strengthen governance frameworks and deployed advanced technologies to automate the electronic compliance system used for inspections and audits of licensed environmental, agricultural, animal, and fisheries establishments across the UAE.
This contributes to faster procedures, more efficient monitoring, and greater accuracy in follow‑up, supporting the objectives of the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme and ensuring higher effectiveness in completing regulatory processes.
Digital Monitoring and Violation Tracking:
Specialised teams at the Ministry continue to monitor electronic accounts across various social media platforms that publish or promote any content violating relevant laws and regulations, taking necessary action and issuing judicial violation reports against offending accounts.
Capacity building and community compliance culture:
The Ministry implements training programmes for specialised staff within relevant entities to enhance their capabilities and define roles and responsibilities, ensuring effective enforcement of legislation.
Additionally, the Ministry aims to strengthen a culture of compliance as a societal responsibility, contributing to wildlife protection and biodiversity preservation. This is achieved through knowledge transfer, publishing awareness images and videos on its verified social media accounts in multiple languages, and educating school and university students through workshops, interactive sessions, and educational lectures related to the Ministry’s areas of expertise.
MOCCAE has provided a channel for receiving comments and reports of violations of relevant laws and regulations through the Tawasul 171 platform, enhancing monitoring efficiency and enabling the competent authorities to verify reports and take the necessary action in accordance with the approved legal framework.
