During the last five days, Masdar City hosted the 2022 edition of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. The event brought together global leaders (including heads of state, policymakers, and international business leaders), and it underlined how much the UAE is committed to reinforcing climate action. The conference has become one of the most relevant in the sector, and it takes place annually since 2008. Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week is the first main event about sustainability after COP26. It leads to COP27 in Egypt (later this year) and COP28 in UAE (in 2023).
The UAE is demonstrating its leading role in driving action towards climate change, not only regionally but globally too. They did so last October, as they announced their Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative. This initiative aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 nationwide, the first initiative of this kind in the MENA region. The UAE was also the first Arab country to set a voluntary clean energy target and the first Gulf state to sign the Paris Agreement.
Collateral events are taking place within the frame of the ADSW, in the city, or virtually, for example, IRENA Assembly, World Future Energy Summit, Youth 4 Sustainability Forum, Atlantic Council Forum, and others.
Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony
The ADSW Opening Ceremony and the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony took place at Expo 2020 Dubai on Monday 17th January, coinciding with the UN General Assembly’s Global Goals Week held in Expo from 15th to 22nd of January. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum awarded the ten winners across five categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water, and Global High Schools with six winners alone. The prize is given to SMEs, non-profit organizations, and global high schools for innovative and sustainable projects. The Prize for the ‘Health’ Category went to Argentina’s Mamotest for its teleradiology and remote analysis solutions. ‘S4S Technologies’ from India won the ‘Food’ category for its work in food preservation and dehydration systems.
‘S4S Technologies’ is committed to other important causes, as they strive to empower rural women, helping them increase their earnings in the effort to support Gender Equality.
In the Energy category, the Bangladesh-based SOLshare created an interconnected microgrid for peer-to-peer energy exchange networks to enable a more efficient electricity distribution across rural communities. Wateroam, an SME from Singapore, was recognized as the ‘Water’ category win for its commitment to tackling the global challenge of contaminated water through portable water filters to serve disaster-hit and rural communities.
Some of the leaders who attended the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
Prominent global leaders attended the event, such as Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General; John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate; Alok Sharma, COP26 President; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization; Francesco La Camera, Director-General of International Renewable Energy Agency; Ferid Belhaj, Vice-President of the World Bank Group; and Ban Ki-moon, President of the Assembly and Chair of the Council of the Global Green Growth Institute.
- Head image credit: https://abudhabisustainabilityweek.com/
