Marrakech: The World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO), a pioneering platform and think tank for future approaches to climate change and environment headquartered in Dubai, was launched on Tuesday at the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech.
The new entity was first announced by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, while he was attending the Green Economy Summit last month in Dubai.
The WGEO will operate in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is expected to open within two years.
Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, was on hand for the launch, flanked by Saeed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. and Helen Clark, Administrator of the UNDP.
Al Tayer will serve as chairman of the WGEO.
Al Zeyoudi lauded the new organisations noting that the UAE government will be the WGEO’s first partner.
“In order for us to do the transition into a green economy, we must coordinate our approach,” Al Zeyoudi said, “toward a green and sustainable economy.”
Al Tayer said the new organisation will help meet the goals of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy which calls for renewable energy to be seven per cent of the total energy mix by 2020, 25 per cent by 2030 and 75 per cent by 2050.
“The launch of the global WGEO is our first step in our efforts to protect the planet and assure our generations to come,” Al Tayer told a standing-room only gathering at the climate conference.
The aim will be to “pioneer a new approach to a green economy by bringing together governments with private partners and society”, he said.
The organisation will lend technical support, support productive dialogue, create employment opportunities and help Dubai become a global hub for green economy efforts, he said.
Clark congratulated the UAE for the launch and said the UNDP will work closely as a partner.
She extolled the UAE leaders for paving the way for a greener tomorrow and setting an example that everyone can follow.
“It is so important for us to have these role models of what renewables can be,” Clark said.
