The World Future Energy Summit is currently taking place in Abu Dhabi, with heavy rains in the Arabian Gulf region highlighting the importance of addressing climate change and its consequences. In her opening speech, Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan commended recent efforts to launch a road map aiming to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This plan was developed by the presidencies of the Conference of the Parties, including the UAE, Azerbaijan, and Brazil, emphasizing the need for significant financing to achieve this goal.
Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, stressed the urgency of identifying energy transition priorities and taking immediate steps to triple renewable energy production capacity to at least 11 terawatts by 2030. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson praised the UAE’s role in technological innovation and hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference, calling it a victory for climate neutrality.
Dr. Bertrand Picard, a Swiss explorer and clean technology ambassador, discussed his latest expedition powered by green hydrogen, aiming to sail around the world in a plane fueled by renewable energy. This follows his historic solar-powered aircraft flight around the world in 2015. The General Manager of RX Middle East and chair of the summit, Lynn Al-Sibai, highlighted the success of the event in bringing together industry leaders for constructive dialogues on actionable steps to address climate change following the recent COP28 conference.
In addition to these discussions on renewable energy and sustainable development goals (SDGs), experts also highlighted blended finance as a key mechanism for addressing climate change. Blended finance is a form of financing that combines concessional public financing with private capital or equity investments from countries that prioritize sustainability goals such as clean energy or water conservation. A recent analysis showed that total committed blended financing amounts to $14.2 billion in MENA region with climate-related transactions totaling around $7 billion.
Overall, this year’s summit brings together top industry leaders from across sectors who are working together towards finding innovative solutions to tackle one of greatest challenges facing our planet today: Climate change.
As we look ahead towards COP29 conference next year we need more than ever collaboration and dialogue among diverse voices to find new ways forward towards a sustainable future where humans can live harmoniously with nature without compromising our economic growth or social wellbeing.