World Green Economy Summit 2021 concludes with Dubai Declaration
UAE sustainable development goals in focus to promote innovation and creative solutions
Dubai: The seventh World Green Economy Summit (WGES), held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, concluded today. The summit, held under the theme ‘Galvanising Action for a Sustainable Recovery’ brought together many prominent speakers from across the globe, in addition to dignitaries and representatives from government organisations, academicians, experts and the media.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice-Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and Chairman of WGES, announced the Dubai Declaration 2021 at the conclusion of WGES 2021, expressing his gratitude and appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, for his patronage of the Summit. He also thanked Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, for his presence at the opening ceremony of the summit and to everyone who contributed to the success of this summit.
‘Promoting innovation’
“The summit’s seventh edition was held amid exceptional events and activities under the theme ‘Galvanising Action for a Sustainable Recovery’ and in conjunction with the historic Expo 2020 Dubai under the theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’. These two themes are consistent with the UAE’s efforts to promote innovation and develop creative solutions in support of the country’s sustainable development goals and economic growth across all areas. The UAE has been a pioneer and a leading nation in adopting innovative solutions to advance its transformation into a green economy. Thanks to the directives and tireless efforts of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai has sustained its bid to be the global capital of the green economy. Dubai has been at the forefront of enhancing international cooperation to solve global challenges, especially those related to climate change, the environment and achieving a secure and sustainable future for all.”
He added: “The summit witnessed high-level dialogues, panel discussions and seminars on ways to develop innovative sustainable solutions and stimulate innovation to support sustainable development. These were centred around the summit’s four main themes: Youth, Innovation and Smart Technologies, Green Economy and Policies, and Green Finance.”
‘Clean and renewable energy sources’
“In line with the vision of our wise leadership, we have a clear strategy and specific goals to increase the share of clean and renewable energy in Dubai’s energy mix. Within this direction of our government, we have launched pioneering projects and initiatives to diversify clean energy sources. These include different clean and renewable energy sources and technologies such as solar photovoltaic systems, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), green hydrogen production using solar power to be a new clean energy source in the future, pumped-storage water technology at Hatta hydroelectric power plant, and studying electricity generation technology from wind power. We will continue to work hard to achieve these ambitious goals. One of our key projects is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, with a planned capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030 and investments of up to Dh50 billion. The Solar Park’s projects constitute one of the key pillars of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to provide 75 per cent of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. The UAE has served as a global model of resilience in times of crisis. This is evident in its immediate successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to our wise leadership, the country has been steadily recovering from this global health crisis, with our nation emerging stronger and more resilient,” Al Tayer said.
Key points of the Dubai Declaration:
• We recognise that climate change is an urgent global threat with impacts that reach beyond the environment agenda to include economic, social, and environmental challenges.
• We acknowledge that sustainable and green recovery should steer our efforts to rebuild the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to limit the temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius, aiming for 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris Agreement, ‘COP21’.
• We encourage inclusive partnerships in which governments, businesses and civil society are part of collective action, for current and future generations.
• We encourage further support towards low carbon transition by developing a strategy and a roadmap for green hydrogen in Dubai.
• The World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO) will continue as the leading platform and partnership enabler for international cooperation, knowledge-sharing and technology transfer between developed and developing countries, taking account of the special needs and circumstances of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, aiming to promote design and implementation of green economy policies at national, regional and global levels.
• We look forward to the fulfilment of commitments to the goals of the Paris Agreement, while rendering our full support for a successful UNFCCC COP26 to be held in November 2021 in Scotland, United Kingdom.
• We will coordinate and align the regional response to climate change for an effective implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and other national climate strategies and policies through UNFCCC WGEO Regional Collaboration Centre in Dubai, during Mena Climate Week 2022. This will coincide with the next World Green Economy Summit here in Expo 2020 Dubai in March 2022.