DUBAI: The 10th edition of the World Green Economy Summit (WGES) commenced today, under the theme ‘Empowering Global Action: Unlocking Opportunities and Advancing Progress’. The event brings together current and former presidents, ministers and global leaders, officials and experts from around the world.

Organised by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO), the summit continues until tomorrow, Thursday, 3rd October 2024, at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The first day featured several key panel discussions focused on accelerating the transition towards a green economy and promoting the widespread global adoption of sustainable practices and green technologies.

The summit's first day opened with a session titled ‘International Co-operation on Climate Mitigation: Treaties, Agreements and Collaborative Projects’, featuring Luma Saqqaf, Director for the Middle East, Africa and India at Principles for Responsible Investment; Dr Mahamadou Tounkara, Regional Director for the Middle East & North Africa at the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI); and Sarah El Battouty, Global Ambassador for the UN High Level Climate Champions and Founder of ECONSULT.

The session underscored the importance of establishing clear frameworks for international co-operation in climate action through treaties and agreements. During the session, the speakers emphasised that the solution to the climate crisis is undoubtedly achieving net-zero by 2050, and that the issue remains in how to move towards that goal. They added that collaboration among the public and private sectors is imperative to ensure the inclusivity of the green transition. The speakers also touched on the importance of localising climate initiatives and enhancing mutual work to ensure the success of collaborative projects. Al Battouty stated that engaging non-state actors is not only financially viable, it also gives a voice to those who are most vulnerable to climate change and allows the climate change conversation to be realistic.

The summit proceeded with a dialogue session titled ‘Power Grid Integration Challenges and Solutions: Managing Variability and Ensuring Reliability in the Power Grid’. Juan Diego Gómez Zuluaga, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Colombia, and Dr Ralf Blumenthal, Senior Vice President and Head of Siemens Grid Software for the Middle East and Africa, emphasised the critical role of energy networks in the decarbonisation process and the need for aligning the sector’s efforts with global plans and targets to achieve net zero. Gómez Zuluaga emphasised the financial challenges of integrating hybrid energy technologies, including batteries, solar and generators, particularly in developing countries, while highlighting the rapid growth of solar systems and the need for advanced technology to meet rising energy demands and achieve net-zero goals.

On the other hand, Dr Blumenthal stressed the importance of substantial government and private sector collaboration, alongside trillions of dollars in investments needed over the next decades to secure the energy transition. He further emphasised the complexity of modern grid operations due to increasing technological elements, noting that digital automation is key to managing this shift efficiently while transforming society into a more sustainable, green energy future.

Participating in the session titled ‘Measuring and Reporting Carbon Footprints: Best Practices and Challenges in Transparency, Accountability and Benchmarking’ were Jean Louis Morcos, Senior Investment Officer and Regional Sustainable and Climate Finance Lead at the International Finance Corporation; Miki Hirasawa-Ashton, Global Leader for Sustainability Engagement in Public Affairs at 3M; Daxita Rajcoomar, Chief Sustainability Officer at Engie; and Vivek Tripathi, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Olive Gaea.

The speakers discussed various aspects of carbon footprint management and reporting. From an investor’s perspective, the challenge lies in ensuring reliable carbon data in emerging markets due to the lack of standardisation and availability of consistent data. Companies like 3M aim to cut emissions significantly by 2030 through innovations like green hydrogen and sustainability frameworks. The importance of global reporting standards was emphasised to ensure transparency and accountability. The speakers also discussed the critical role of technology in enhancing the traceability and auditability of emissions data, particularly for regulatory compliance and corporate accountability.

The session titled ‘Decarbonising Energy-Intensive and Hard-to-Abate Industries’ began with an informative speech by HE Mohammad Abunayyan, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors at ACWA Power. Abunayyan highlighted Saudi Arabia’s ambitious goals to achieve 50 percent of renewable energy in its energy mix by 2030, with ACWA Power leading the efforts through its extensive investments and advancements in clean and renewable energy generation and adoption. Abunayyan emphasised ACWA Power’s commitment to advancing water desalination technologies and initiatives and implementing actionable initiatives to make potable water accessible and affordable to all, as an important solution to the water crisis. Abunayyan added that the region is leading by example in decarbonisation efforts, especially with the notable advancements achieved by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the field of green hydrogen.

The session also then saw a lively discussion, which featured the participation of Ali Rashid Al-Jarwan, Managing Director of Exploration & Production and Chief Executive Officer at Dragon Oil; Najeeba Al Jabri, Vice President of Environment, Health and Security at Emirates Global Aluminium; and Nada Jasim, Director of Safety and Risk Regulation and Planning at RTA. They shared insights and expertise on decarbonisation strategies for the heavy transport, construction, energy and chemicals sectors. During the session, Al-Jarwan emphasised that the oil and gas industry's skills are transferable to green hydrogen, enabling a faster energy transition that supports decarbonisation goals.

He highlighted that this creates new opportunities for the sector to contribute to the green transition. Al Jabri pointed out that 65 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from energy, stressing the importance of decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors and collaborating through circular economy practices. She emphasised that these collaborations are essential for achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Jasim introduced the RTA’s Net Zero Public Transport strategy by 2050, highlighting progress in decarbonising both vehicles and transportation infrastructure, with a focus on successful implementation of ongoing initiatives and plans.

The session titled ‘Flying High: Key Sustainability Steps the Aviation Industry Needs to Take by 2030’ addressed the crucial role of sustainable aviation fuel in meeting sustainable development goals and reducing the industry’s carbon footprint. The panel included HE Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Managing Partner at Magellim Infrastructure and France’s former Minister of Transport; Linn Tonsberg, Director at air bp Middle East & Africa and Managing Director of bp Middle East; Dr Sami Kamel, Chief Executive Officer of Dutco Cleantech; Andrew Sweeney, Regional Sustainability Lead for the Middle East, Türkiye, Africa and Central Asia at Boeing; and Farid Al Bastaki, Director of Aviation at ENOC. During the session, the speakers highlighted the advancements in sustainable aviation fuel, emphasising that the aviation sector is aware of the necessary steps to reduce its carbon footprint and has made significant commitments, most notably during COP28 in Dubai last year.

They stressed that the industry is now at the execution and implementation stage, and mentioned the importance of bringing stakeholders together, noting that the production of sustainable aviation fuel tripled last year. However, challenges remain, including the need for more regulations to support emerging tech companies and the need for adequate financial resources. Moreover, the speakers shared that aviation represents approximately 2% of global CO2 emissions. In the transport sector, aviation represents approximately 12 percent of the Global CO2 emissions. Aviation is also forecasted that by 2040, we will have eight billion passengers per annum.

The first day also featured a session titled ‘4Ps: Adding Another ‘P’ to PPP (Public-Private Partnerships + Philanthropists)’, which emphasised the importance of involving charitable organisations in collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors to create effective and actionable climate solutions. The session included Lina Osman, Regional Head of Sustainable Finance - West at Standard Chartered Bank; and Luay Ahmadi, Chief Investment Officer at Lamar Holdings. The speakers highlighted the importance of the 4Ps in sustainable finance, focusing on philanthropy to make projects more bankable and stressing the need for efficient decision-making. They also noted the involvement of major players like Aramco and ADNOC, with substantial investments already made.

The session titled ‘How Can We Use AI to Help Create a Sustainable Future?’ examined the potential of artificial intelligence applications in shaping a sustainable future. The panel included Sam Daws, Senior Adviser to the Oxford University AI Governance Initiative and Director of Multilateral AI; Dr Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Executive President of the Moroccan International Center for Artificial Intelligence; and Mohammed Al Rais, Senior Director of GIT at ENOC. Dr Seghrouchni highlighted the pivotal role of AI tools, powered by data, in the green economy, noting their diverse applications such as optimising processes, predicting outcomes and simulating scenarios. As part of Industry X.0, AI is widely used to improve operations while promoting environmental sustainability. She added that leveraging data-driven AI tools in Morocco has led to a 70% savings in the supply chain.

Al Rais stressed that AI is essential for enhancing the performance and capacity of companies across all sectors. He further noted that data has become one of the most valuable resources, and highlighted the need for technologies capable of simultaneously collecting and analysing data to effectively monitor and improve supply chains.

Furthermore, Daws highlighted that another key aspect of the UAE's contribution to advancing AI is its cultural impact. Sustainable AI requires diverse cultural inputs, as AI is poised to shape every aspect of commerce, communication and scientific endeavours over the next 100 years. It is crucial that global AI development reflects the entirety of humanity. The UAE, through the FALCON language model, built entirely in Arabic, with four distinct dialects, makes a crucial contribution to the global AI of the future.

Beena Shamma, CEO & Co-Founder of CCU International; Yvonne Lam, Senior Vice President and Head of Carbon & CCUS Research at Rystad Energy; and Leonidas Papanikolaou, Senior Head of Bespoke & New Schemes at Low Carbon Contracts, discussed the challenges faced by carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions and the broad opportunities they present during the session titled ‘Strategies for Carbon Capture and Storage: Exploring and Incorporating Emerging Technologies and Their Potential Impact’.

The session discussed the critical role of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in achieving net zero by 2050, highlighting the challenges and opportunities the technology presents. They emphasised the need for infrastructure, policy support and cost reduction to make CCUS viable on a large scale. While government subsidies are crucial for early-stage development, they agreed that long-term market sustainability is essential.

Furthermore, the Summit hosted Moubarak Moukaila, Head of Environment and Climate Finance at West African Development Bank (BOAD); Flavien Joubert, Minister of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, the Seychelles; and Messouda Baham Mohamed Laghdaf, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mauritania, in a high-level ministerial discussion on the topic ‘Climate Finance and Green Economy’.

The speakers presented case studies on their countries' unique green transition processes, emphasising that it is not enough to increase climate finance; capacity building and effective fund allocation are also crucial. They agreed that synchronised efforts between governments, private sectors and stakeholders are essential to achieve ambitious climate goals. Governments must support private sector innovation, which drives the economy and contributes significantly to national progress. Additionally, they highlighted the importance of regional collaboration and the technical support and capacity building they have received from the Global Alliance on Green Economy.

The summit concluded its first day with a session titled ‘The Role of Green Hydrogen in Decarbonising Energy Systems and Industrial Processes’, featuring Akram Alami, Senior Partner and Middle East Head of Utilities, Aviation and Sustainability & Responsibility Practices at Bain & Company; Dr Lourdes Vega, Director and Founder of the Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and Hydrogen (RICH Center) and Full Professor of Chemical Engineering at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi; and Marcel Kooter, Co-Founder of the Holland Hydrogen Hub. The session explored the potential of green hydrogen as a sustainable fuel and a reliable source of clean energy. Key topics included the need to scale up hydrogen production, improve infrastructure and secure policy support to make it more cost-effective. The speakers emphasised the importance of collaboration between industry, government and academia to overcome financial and technical challenges, positioning green hydrogen as a vital component in achieving carbon neutrality.