WGES 2015 Agenda announced, held from 22-23 april 2015

Dubai, 16th February 2015

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, and With the support of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE), His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the DSCE and MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Chairman of The Organizing Committee for the World Green Economy Summit (WGES), today hosted a press conference at Armani Hotel to provide further details about the second World Green Economy Summit ("WGES") 2015.

The Summit, due to be held on 22nd and 23rd April 2015 under the theme "Global Partnerships, Sustainable Future", will build on the Dubai Declaration, a key outcome of WGES 2014, a list of commitments agreed by Dubai in order to enable the Emirate to develop into the Capital of the Green Economy.

During the event, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer commenced with some of the words of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, "We must continuously innovate, or we will stagnate."

"In line with His Highness' vision and innovation strategy for 2015, we have been developing strategies to promote sustainable development and green initiatives and partnerships, aiming to encourage innovation within key national sectors like renewable energy with the purpose of making our country a global hub for green economy. This is also a result of Dubai Declaration announced last year to make Dubai a capital of green economy and a role model on both regional and international levels," said His Excellency.

"Today, we expand our relentless efforts to achieve our goals of green economy and sustainable development. We previously set ourselves the goal of ensuring that 7% of our energy requirements were met by renewables by 2020. At the start of this year, we committed ourselves to raise our target to 15% by 2030. DEWA also achieved great success in the low cost of production of photovoltaic energy according to the independent producer system implemented in the tender for the second project of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, and has doubled the capacity of production from 100 megawatts to 200 megawatts to run in 2017 with an independent producer system," said His Excellency," said His Excellency.

"To support this, DEWA also launched an operational plan to reduce energy demand by 30%, including eight major programs: specifications and regulations of green buildings, retrofitting of existing buildings, districts' central cooling, raise standards and efficiency of equipment and lighting, reusing treated water for irrigation, the efficiency of external lighting, loads management. The incremental costs of this strategic project would be almost 30 billion dirhams, while revenues will reach about 82 billion dirhams with net savings of up to 52 billion dirhams, which is an excellent economic return,"

"In Dubai, and the wider UAE, conferences such as the World Green Economy Summit provide a platform for leading regional and international organisations to discuss green policy and initiatives and will provide an opportunity for the private and public sector to collaborate towards building a more green and sustainable future. Here arises the importance of encouraging green funding and investment in order to meet these goals. The investment required is both at an intellectual, and a financial level. We need to invest in partnerships between the private sector and the public sector, partnerships between governments and nations. In order to effect global climate change, we need a global approach," added His Excellency.

"I'm proud to announce today that the World Green Economy Summit will be signing a number of partnerships with local and international institutions, which will play an integral part in our efforts in developing a green economy and achieving a sustainable future," concluded His Excellency.

Commenting on WGES programme, Waleed Salman, Vice President of WGES, said: "The programme for the second Summit, WGES 2015 will focus on partnerships between the public and private sector in order to find innovative and sustainable solutions to drive the Green Economy. We also plan to announce a number of partnerships that have been signed with key partners and sponsors that each enhance cooperation across sectors." 

"The upcoming WGES will also highlight the main achievements of the Emirate of Dubai, including presentations with world-leading Green Economy experts and outline progress in many of the UAE's innovative sustainability projects such as smart cities, and renewable energy parks, and many other advanced projects," added Waleed Salman.

The programme for WGES 2015 will focus on key developments that are needed to build a green economy, including: developing input and insights that will be presented in a declaration in Paris at COP21, a major component of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, climate regulation, leadership in climate change and engaging with youth as a major driver for change, global green public-private partnerships, global green marketplace, innovation, finance, and new solutions.

-Ends-

For more information please contact:
Alexa Hooft Graafland
ahooftgraafland@bell-pottinger.com
+971 55 559 7404

About WGES
The World Green Economy Summit (WGES) is the first event based on improving the profitability of sustainability practices, products and services in the Middle East and North Africa region, bringing together world leaders, united in pursuing a sustainable future for humanity to forge global partnerships that accelerate the transition to a green economy.

WGES is an initiative of Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) and will be held under the theme 'Global Partnerships, Sustainable Future', in partnership with World Climate Ltd. WGES looks to complement the sustainable future vision of the UAE and the global efforts to combat climate. www.wges.ae/index.php

The Summit's strategic goals include; maintaining WGES as the premier international platform for the Green Economy, developing the WGES Public-Private Partnership and creating strong linkages to the UN Climate Agreement 2015.

The programme for WGES 2015 will focus on key developments that are needed to build a green economy, including:

         Developing input and insights that will be presented in a declaration in Paris at COP21, a major component of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

         Climate regulation

         Leadership in climate change and engaging with youth as a major driver for change

         Global green public-private partnerships

         Global green marketplace

         Innovation, finance, and new solutions

Press Release 2015