The third edition of The 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 of “Driving Global Green Economy,” gathered more than 80 prominent speakers from across the globe, in addition to dignitaries and representatives from government institutions, academics, experts, and more.
WGES 2016, hosted by the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) under the umbrella of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, in collaboration with World Climate Ltd, its international partners, is supported by the United Nations. The Summit ran in conjunction with 18th session of Water, Energy & Environment Exhibition (WETEX) and Dubai Solar Show 2016.
In the presence of H.E. Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and other senior officials, H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy in Dubai, Managing Director and CEO of DEWA, and Chairman of WGES, kicked off the closing ceremony by expressing his gratitude and appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for his presence at and patronage of the Summit. He also acknowledged the welcomed launch of the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO), an initiative of the Government of Dubai and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which will be based in Dubai.
His Excellency reiterated the role of WGEO: “WGEO will promote the green economy concept regionally and globally through partnerships and knowledge transfer opportunities between the public and private sector, United Nations agencies, financial institutions and civil society, facilitating dialogue towards a unified green economy objective. The organization will also serve as a platform for climate change mitigation solutions, sustainable energy, and other water-related and environmental resources around the world."
His Excellency extended his thanks to those that helped made the third World Green Economy Summit a success, acknowledging that there were more than 40 partners and sponsors, 80 speakers, in addition to government officials, experts and academics, in addition to 2500 participants.
His Excellency then announced the new Dubai Declaration, highlighting that it “represents our commitment to create an even smarter, greener, happier Dubai, and make it the Global Green Capital of the World.”
He then summarised the achievements of past years and commitments for the next year, emphasising the three areas of focus for this declaration as Dubai as a global green hub in the world, global green partnerships, and green finance:
Achievements & Future endeavours
Dubai, the Global Capital of the Green Economy
In terms of important achievements in the past year;
•We have launched innovative government programmes to support green economy objectives, such as the Dubai Strategy for Clean Energy 2050, which aims to diversify energy sources and raise clean energy contributions, and the Demand Side Management Programme, which aims to reduce energy and water demand by 30% in 2030.
• Dubai is continuing in international excellence through green mega-projects, particularly the announced expansion of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to 5000 MW, making it the largest single-site solar park upon completion.
• We launched the UAE’s solar power programme, the UAE Solar Programme of Activities (PoA), which also enables the registration of projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
• 2015 saw key innovations in green infrastructure, such as the “EV Green Charger” for electric vehicles.
In terms of future endeavours going forward;
• We will collaborate with the UNDP during the set-up phase of the World Green Economy Organization, to:
1) Promote its position as the main reference for green economy
2) Promote dialogue among nations and countries on green economy practices
3) Provide technical support for countries in the field of green economy
4) Create job opportunities in the field of green economy
•We will develop the ‘Dubai Green Free Zone’, which will be dedicated to attracting mature and emerging companies in clean energy. The Dubai Green Free Zone will become a global hub to attract R&D and innovative clean energy companies.
• Dubai will continue to develop innovative business models for energy and transport, such as power purchase agreements (PPA) for solar, which already have resulted in record-breaking prices for solar energy per kilowatt-hour.
•We will continue implementing “Shams Dubai Initiative” which allows customers to install photovoltaic panels on their rooftops to generate electricity from solar power, and connect the systems to the grid.
•We will support the global policy framework for green economy and climate action, through a commitment to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C.
Global Partnerships
In terms of important achievements in the past year;
•We demonstrated commitment to the global climate agenda, as Dubai shared its leadership vision for the green economy and examples of policy best practice at COP21 in Paris.
•Dubai Government has close collaborations with a number of international organisations including UNDP and IRENA, a number of large businesses such as Siemens and Philips, and other cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam to discuss best practice in PPP development.
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