Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, and Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, has launched the World Green Economy Report 2018, the first global publication of the World Green Economy Organisation, WGEO, under the theme, ‘Inspiring Innovations in Business, Finance and Policy’.
The report has been prepared in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, as it focuses largely on the core of innovation and sustainability to enhance green transformation around the world.
He announced this during his keynote speech at the Sustainable Innovation Forum, the official 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP24, affiliate event, in Katowice, Poland. The forum was attended by Michał Kurtyka, COP24 President.
The Sustainable Innovation Forum will be discussing opportunities to advance the historic Paris Agreement 2015 by bringing together 600 delegates engaged with fast-tracking the global green economy.
The forum tackles four key themes: Circular Economy, Energy Transition, Sustainable Mobility, and Climate Finance. It is hosting high-level policy discussions and debates, by leading ministers, cities, multilateral organisations, investors and private sector vendors and solution providers.
"Climate Change no doubt is a global issue and therefore a joint and concerted action should be taken from all around the globe to rely on renewable and sustainable energy sources to establish the balance between development and preserving the natural resources for future generations. The UAE sees climate change as part of its global responsibility and has been at the forefront in setting and implementing strategies and policies to achieve the sustainability objectives following our visionary leadership," Al Tayer said in his opening speech.
"The future indeed relies on green energy and sustainability by adopting innovative solutions. The UAE holds a rich heritage of remarkable achievements through different strategies and initiatives to make the UAE the best country in the world as stipulated by the UAE Centennial 2071. We have adopted the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and incorporated them as part of our framework of related strategies and policies, and they are currently under implementation," he added.
"We are aiming at substantially reducing our environmental footprint while maintaining a secure, reliable and affordable supply of power and water. In doing so, we are proceeding on parallel tracks. The first one is reducing the power and water demand by 30 percent by 2030 through efficient usage and conservation programmes; whereas the other path is improving the supply side by diversifying the energy mix, increasing the efficiency and reducing the power and water grid losses under the umbrella of our smart grid initiative," Al Tayer noted.
The WGEO was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, on 5th October, 2016 at the World Green Economy Summit in Dubai to enable the shift towards a green economy and to enable green economy projects globally while supporting countries and organisations to achieve their green business goals.
Al Tayer also spoke about the 4th Industrial Revolution, and Artificial Intelligence, AI, Robotics and the Internet of Things, IoT, saying that the digital revolution at DEWA was initiated to support the Dubai 10X initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, to propel Dubai towards the future, taking it 10 years ahead of other global cities through government innovation.