Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week: Energy security, strategies take centre stage at Global Energy Forum

The seventh annual Global Energy Forum, organised by the Atlantic Council, kicked off on January 14 in Abu Dhabi, as part of the activities of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

This year’s forum is significant as critical climate and energy strategy issues take centre stage in the run-up to the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28), which the UAE will also host before the year’s end.

The forum is focusing on the challenges of managing energy security priorities and decarbonisation efforts in tandem.

Leaders attending include John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and former US Secretary of State; Amos Hochstein, Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security, US Department of State; Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, UK; Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director General for Energy, European Commission; Francesco La Camera, director-general, IRENA; and Dr Yasmine Fouad, Egypt’s Minister of Environment and Ministerial Coordinator and Climate Envoy for COP27.

The forum is being convened in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure, ADNOC, Mubadala Investment Company, TAQA, and Emirates Nuclear Energy Company, according to the state news agency, WAM.

Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, making his first remarks in his capacity as the COP 28 President-Designate, addressed the gathering on the first day of the forum. He said that the UAE had “a clear sense of responsibility and a great sense of urgency” when it came to hosting COP28 and helping to build global ambition and accelerate action on climate change. He underscored the critical need to make up progress to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Incoming COP28 President-Designate calls for COP of Action, COP For All to deliver transformational progress.#WamNews pic.twitter.com/Yg4ZSwbfVe

— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) January 14, 2023

“We don’t need to wait for the Global Stocktake to know what it will say. We are way off track. The world is playing catchup when it comes to the key Paris goal of holding global temperatures down to 1.5 degrees. And the hard reality is that in order to achieve this goal, global emissions must fall 43 percent by 2030,” Dr Al Jaber said.

While recognising the threat of climate change, Dr Al Jaber emphasised the immense economic benefits of investing in clean energy and climate action, pointing to the UAE as a success story in that regard.

He noted that the UAE is the host country of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the first in the region to commit to the Paris Agreement, the first in the region to submit a Nationally Determined Contribution, and the first to set out a roadmap to net zero, reported WAM.

LIVE NOW | #COP28UAE President Designate H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber and @FredKempe open the 2023 Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi. #ACEnergyForum @uaeclimateenvoy https://t.co/rldZbFGFdK

— Atlantic Council (@AtlanticCouncil) January 14, 2023

“Today, over 70 percent of our economy is generated outside the oil and gas sector. And as the CEO of ADNOC and the founding CEO and chairman of Masdar, I will continue to follow our leadership’s vision and guidance in making today’s energy cleaner, while advancing and investing in the clean energies of tomorrow. And we will use our experience, our ambition and deep network of partnerships to inform our approach to COP28,” Dr Al Jaber said.

He cited the vision of the UAE’s President as being instrumental to the country’s regional and global leadership in climate action and its role as a global advocate for clean energy.

“Over the last 15 years, the UAE has invested a total of US$50bn in renewable energy and clean tech globally and plans to invest another US$50bn in the years ahead.

“We want COP28 to transform systems and accelerate 2030 trajectories through game-changing partnerships, solutions, and outcomes. We want it to be a COP of Solidarity that bridges the Global North and South, and includes public and private sectors, scientists and civil society, women and youth. And we want it to be a practical COP, a COP of Action that raises ambitions and moves from goals to implementation across mitigation, adaptation, finance and loss and damage,” he said.

Dr Al Jaber said that the UAE as hosts of COP28, and at the crossroads of North and South, East and West, will listen, and engage with all those who want to engage, build bridges, and pursue global consensus in this collective effort.