(Abu Dhabi) – Government delegations from more than 140 countries are in the capital for the first Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. Besides high-level officials from the United States, Germany, Denmark, China and India, senior representatives of international organisations such as the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Energy Agency are also attending.
The event was announced last June during Rio+20, a UN conference on sustainable development. It builds on the success of the World Future Energy Summit, which has been hosted by Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company, Masdar, every year since 2008. “This year’s event will be the largest gathering on sustainability in the history of the Middle East”, said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of Masdar. “Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week is an open global platform that seriously addresses the global energy challenge, while encouraging collaboration and innovation to accelerate the adoption of sustainable development and renewable energy”, he added.
The event also coincides with the third session of the general assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
