Dubai
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai officially opened the World Green Energy Summit (WGES) on Tuesday morning, attending the opening ceremony and touring the exhibition.
He was accompanied by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council.
This week Dubai plays host to three major ecologically-focused events that will emphasise sustainability.
First is the 19th annual Wetex, running from October 23 to 25 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), swiftly followed by the 4th annual World Green Economy Summit (WGES), which is running from October 24 to 25, at the same venue as Wetex. The two events are being held in conjunction with the 2nd edition of the Dubai Solar Show, as part of Dubai’s Green Week.
This year’s summit will highlight three key issues facing the green economy, according to Saeed Al Tayer, CEO of Dubai’s Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), the event’s organiser.
These are innovation and technology, finance and investment, and leadership and policy.
The opening ceremony of the summit saw Al Tayer announce the opening of a Dh2.4 billion green fund in the presence of Shaikh Mohammad and Shaikh Hamdan.
The first day closed with Al Tayer, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, leading a youth dialogue session, aimed at promoting youth engagement in a green economy.
He called upon the youth in the UAE and around the world to become part of the global efforts towards reaching a green economy.
“[The WGES theme of] ‘Driving Innovation, Leading Change’, illustrates the pivotal role that young people play in the transformation to the green economy, because innovation and creativity are qualities of youth, and the change we seek is a continuous process, which to a large extent is driven by the youth,” Al Tayer said.
Organisers hope that stakeholders and policymakers will work together at the summit to tackle some of the challenges created by climate change.
On this point, Al Tayer told assembled media last week at a press conference that “the world today ... is feeling the impact of climate change. We are in dire need of adapting to these changes.”
He said that people often mistook climate change for a merely environmental problem.
“Rising sea levels and so on are not the only impact [of climate change]. Climate change will impact the economy, reaching social and health organisations,” Al Tayer said.
