Abu Dhabi:

Abu Dhabi’s ambitious carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) project to sequestrate 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually is on track, senior executives of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said here on Monday.

The joint project of Adnoc and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company-Masdar, will be operational by 2016 as scheduled, said Engineer Lubna Al Ameri, manager of sustainability and social responsibility at Adnoc.

Both parties have established a joint venture company for this purpose, Mohammad Al Fadi, acting manager of health, safety and environment at Adnoc said. The joint venture company ‘Al Reyadah’ (‘leadership’ in Arabic) is the latest addition to the family of Adnoc Group of Companies, he said.

They were speaking at a press conference to introduce the first Abu Dhabi Sustainable Business Leadership Forum, a two-day conference that begins in the capital on Tuesday.

The Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG) along with the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Abu Dhabi based Sustainability To Action (STA) are organising the Forum.

Huda Al Houqani, ADSG’s Director, said that over 40 prominent sustainability professionals from MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region will be speaking at the forum. Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Ali Al Nuaimi, known as the Green Shaikh, Razan Mubarak, Secretary General of the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi, Ebrahim Al Ansaari, CEO of Dolphin Energy, Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani, Director General of Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED) and Jan Thesleff, Ambassador of Sweden to the UAE, are some of the most prominent speakers, she said.

ADSG also announced the successful launch of the Energy Management Programme in partnership with Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS/WWF). EWS’s cutting edge Energy Efficiency game helps the users reduce energy consumption in offices.

Tanzeed Alam, Climate and Energy Director at EWS-WWF, said: “The private sector has an immense opportunity to participate in reducing the UAE’s carbon emissions by reducing energy and water consumption. The development of professionally qualified energy managers is crucial to conserve energy and water in the UAE and tackle climate change, and ADSG’s programme is a step in the right direction.”

ADSG will be developing a certified energy management training course in partnership with Energy Institute as part of the next steps in this flagship programme. It will provide accredited training to a minimum of 10 Abu Dhabi based organisations, offering them the opportunity to pursue further professional development in the field. The programme was initiated earlier this year through efforts made as part of the ADSG strategy 2014-2019. ADSG already have many members committed to the programme including National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Department of Transport, Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, Dolphin Energy, Aramex, Al Ain Municipality, Rotana and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.