Sustainable Biz Magazine A4 March 2023 - Flipbook - Page 10
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2023
Successfully Concludes Setting UAE
on Road to COP28
A
bu Dhabi Sustainability
Week (ADSW), successfully
concluded its fifteenth
edition, with a resounding
show of commitment to climate
action ahead of the United Nations
Climate Change Conference (COP28),
to be held in the UAE later this year.
Under the theme of ‘United on
Climate Action Towards COP28,’ the
six-day event was the first global
sustainability gathering of a critical
year, and it served as the first official
platform for the recently announced
COP28 leadership team, led by H.E.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE
Minister of Industry and Advanced
Technology, COP28 PresidentDesignate, and Chairman of Masdar.
In his keynote at the Opening
Ceremony, H.E. Dr. Al Jaber called for
the world to come together around
COP28 to cooperate and collaborate
and turn rhetoric into tangible results.
Global dignitaries, including 13 heads
of state and a record number of
attendees, convened to progress
dialogue on the transition to a netzero future. The event was held under
the patronage of His Highness Sheikh
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
President of the UAE who attended
the opening ceremony with Yoon Suk
10
Yeol, President of the Republic of
Korea, and Ilham Aliyev, President
of Azerbaijan delivering keynote
speeches.
Championed by the UAE and its
clean energy powerhouse, Masdar,
ADSW 2023, also welcomed world
leaders including: Kassym-Jomart
Tokayev, President of the Republic
"The Climate Action
Towards COP28,’ the
six-day event was the
first global sustainability
gathering of a critical
year"
of Kazakhstan; Wavel Ramkalawan,
President of the Republic of
Seychelles; João Manuel Lourenço,
President of the Republic of Angola;
Hakainde Hichilema, President of the
Republic of Zambia; Nana AkufoAddo, President of Ghana; Yoweri
Museveni, President of the Republic
of Uganda; Surangel Whipps Jr.,
President of the Republic of Palau;
Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of
S USTA I N A B L E B I Z M AG AZ I N E
FEBRUARY 2023
the Republic of Mozambique; Aziz
Akhannouch, Prime Minister of the
Kingdom of Morocco; Abiy Ahmed,
Prime Minister of Ethiopia; and
Tiemoko Meyliet, Vice President of the
Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.
During the opening ceremony, 10
winners of the Zayed Sustainability
Prize from five continents were
recognized for their achievements
in driving innovative and scalable
sustainability solutions.
Other major events that took place
throughout the week included
the 13th IRENA Assembly, the
supreme decision-making body of
the International Renewable Energy
Agency. IRENA members confirmed
their readiness to support the UAE’s
COP28 presidency and committed to
leveraging international cooperation
through the Agency’s global platform.
The Atlantic Council Global Energy
Forum, which annually convenes the
world’s top energy and foreign policy
decisionmakers hosted its seventh
meeting at ADSW. Guests including
H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the Rt. Hon.
Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State
for Business, Energy, and Industrial
Strategy for the UK, John Kerry, U.S.
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate,
and Bernard Mensah, President of