Abu Dhabi: The sixth World Future Energy Summit (WFES) is scheduled to kick off next week in Abu Dhabi from January 15–17, which falls for the first time under the umbrella of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
Hosted by Masdar, the event is expected to bring head of states, industry leaders and government officials to discuss renewable energy innovation and investment.
Organisers say that the event is expected to attract 30,000 attendees to Abu Dhabi over the course of three days.
“It’s more than just a show; it’s an initiative which complies with the vision of Abu Dhabi 2030 in developing sustainable energy and this vision has been translated since 2006 with Masdar, Abu Dhabi Renewable Energy company and as a global platform for dialogue about the deployment of renewable energy,” said Naji Al Haddad, Show Director of the WFES.
This year for the first time the International Water Summit will also run alongside WFES, and will also play host to the biennial International Renewable Energy Conference.
The exhibition has become a strong business platform for participating companies. This year 630 companies, both local and international, will be taking part in exhibition and where over 70 product launches are expected. Al Haddad said that while the Summit is considered to be a day for policy makers, the exhibition and the conference are for business, technology and trade. “We are all of that: business, policy, technology and of course investment, all very well represented in this event,” he said.
The conference will include four high-level ministerial panels with keynote speeches by Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade, Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Todd Stern, USA’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner Climate Action in the European Commission, and Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary‐General on the Millennium Development Goals.
The Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week will open with the third session of the Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) on 13 – 14 January.
Participants
Participants of these Ministerial Panels will include, among others:
Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy, India
Liu Qi, Vice Minister and Deputy Administrator of the National Energy Administration, China
Fouad Douiri, Minister for Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, the Kingdom of Morocco
Richard Marles MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Australia
Manuel Gerardo Pedro Pulgar-Vidal Otárola, Minister of Environment, Peru
Dr. Mohammad Bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, Qatar
Dr. Khaled Al Sulaiman, Vice-President for Renewable Energy at the King Abdullah City of Atomic and Renewable Energy, Saudi Arabia
Sulaiman Jasir Al Herbish, Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Vienna-based OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)
Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UnescoO)
Dr. Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Michel Jarraud, Chair, UN Water
