Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week to kick off on January 16

Abu Dhabi: The upcoming Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) will see global policy and business leaders drawing up plans aimed at identifying and implementing solutions to the world’s most pressing sustainable development challenges.

The conferences, events and exhibitions, which start on January 16, will be based on the key pillars of policy, leadership, business, academic research and awareness.

Hosted by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, ADSW will gather heads of state, ministers and international delegations to address critical sustainability issues, including growing energy and water needs, the challenges of urbanisation and the priorities of climate change mitigation.

Dr Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Chairman of Masdar, said: “The UAE is delivering on its goal of achieving the long-term economic prosperity and welfare of its people, guided by the vision of its leadership and a long-standing commitment to diversify all sectors of the economy, including renewable energy. Sustainable development is integral to our continued advancement as a nation, and reflects our core national values of peace, prosperity, stability, tolerance and unity.”

Thirty-three thousand delegates, more than 80 ministers, and visitors from over 170 countries are expected to attend the policy dialogues, conferences, exhibitions and events that will make up ADSW 2016.

As the first major international gathering of 2016, ADSW will be a timely platform to sustain the forward momentum achieved in 2015, especially following the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement aimed at mitigating climate change.

“There is no single solution to meeting the world’s growing energy needs. As a leading hydrocarbon exporter, we have long recognised the importance of investing in new technologies to maintain our energy leadership and ensure a diversified, secure energy future,” Al Jaber said.

“ADSW is an important reflection of the UAE leadership’s economic and energy diversification goals, which are aimed at achieving sustainable development. Our experience shows that advancing these goals presents an unparalleled economic opportunity, one that will lead to more jobs, more innovation, and more prosperity,” he added.

ADSW will be dedicated to transforming these visionary international goals into practical and commercially driven solutions that can be implemented by the private sector.