Future Sustainability Summit opens to formalise strategies

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The Future Sustainability Summit opened on Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,000 delegates and 90 global leaders and innovators from 45 countries – including four presidents and a prime minister – to drive sustainability innovation.

Among the national leaders at the Future Sustainability Summit, Sheikh Hasina Wajid, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, spoke  about how the country, one of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change, is advancing its long-term technoeconomic plan for adaptation and resilience called the Delta Plan 2100.

Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, highlighted how his nation is combating climate change with its Fund for Environment and Climate Change and as a member of the Global Green Growth Institute. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO, Mubadala Investment Company, also spoke on sustainability.

Other opening day speakers included Armen Sarkissian, President of the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, President of Mali, and  Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone.

 Eng. Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman, Department of Energy, Abu Dhabi presented on how Abu Dhabi is catalysing a sustainable tomorrow, enhancing the energy sector, and keeping pace with the latest developments.

The UAE’s leading public and private sector officials are showcasing the country’s best practices to a global audience, including  Abdul Aziz Abdulla, Al Ghurair Founder, Abdulla Al Ghurair, Foundation for Education on ‘Strategic Philanthropy: How Generosity Can Achieve Real Results’; Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development on ‘The Power of Culture to Inspire Sustainable Change’; and Ahmed Al Sayegh, Minister of State, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Global Market, on ‘How Technology, Innovation, and Sustainability Will Transform Our Lives’.

The Future Sustainability Summit is being held under the theme ‘Rethinking Global Consumption, Production, and Investment’, and shaped by four major pillars: New Centres of Gravity, New Production Models, New Consumption Models, New Investment Models.

“The Future Sustainability Summit is reaching new heights in the quality and quantity of speakers and delegates, and bringing together world leaders from government, business, finance, and innovation to look at opportunities to accelerate sustainable development,” Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar. “The Future Sustainability Summit will take the UAE’s sustainability innovations to a global audience, and exchange best practices among the world’s thought leaders including four heads of state.”

Bringing Africa’s Sustainability Innovations to the Forefront

Bringing Africa’s sustainability innovations to the forefront was Akon, Co-Founder and Chairman, Akon Lighting Africa, on ‘What Tomorrow’s Generation Demands of Today’s Leaders’. Gunter Pauli, Entrepreneur and Author, South Africa joined the panel ‘The Transition to the Circular Economy: Will Plastics or Energy Lead the Way?’, and Evans Wandongo, Executive Director and Chairman, Sustainable Development for All-Africa, Kenya, presented on ‘Small Scale Clean Tech in the Global South: Creating Sustainable Livelihoods’.

Akon, Co-Founder and Chairman, Akon Lighting Africa, said: “I am proud to attend and speak at the ADSW this year. The success of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week over the years reflects the passionate involvement of Masdar and its leadership, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, to make the world a better place by harnessing the true potential of renewable energy and bringing together the newest technologies available. With our mission to bring electricity to homes and communities across the world, the ADSW, reaffirms our faith in the potential of people coming together to make a positive difference.”

With global renewable energy investment reaching USD 288 billion, according to the United Nations, Harry Boyd-Carpenter, Director, Head of Energy EMEA, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development moderated the panel ‘Renewable Energy at Scale in the Global South: Creating Wealth from Sustainability’ and Patrick Odier, Senior Managing Partner, Bank Lombard Odier & Co was on the panel ‘Rethinking Philanthropy’.

As the Paris Agreement turns four in 2020,  Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Former President of Iceland, Laurent Fabius, Environment Patron on Environmental Governance, United Nations, and Francesco La Camera, Director General, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shared the stage on the panel ‘Before It’s Too Late: Meeting the Paris Agreement’.