ABU DHABI - Masdar City, Abu Dhabi’s only planned and approved R&D cluster for innovative technologies, and Zero Carbon Ventures, a company dedicated to bringing carbon-reducing technologies to the Middle East, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance carbon reduction in the Middle East.

Already underway at Masdar City, the first project to be explored under the agreement will involve deploying Zero Carbon Venture’s game-changing graphene technologies to reduce the need for maintenance and reduce the energy consumption of key buildings.

Ahmed Baghoum, Executive Director, Masdar City, said, “Masdar City is dedicated to acting as a global hub and facilitator for international and regional organisations working in sustainability R&D and innovation. This agreement with Zero Carbon Ventures underscores our commitment to advancing the development of low carbon solutions and further supports the UAE’s Net Zero goals.

“Having Zero Carbon Ventures based in Masdar City also adds another important area of climate response specialisation to our dynamic network of tenants and comes at a particularly pivotal time as we pave the way towards the UAE’s hosting of COP28 in 2023.”

Martin Reynolds, CEO, Zero Carbon Ventures, said, “Zero Carbon Ventures’ mission is to scour the globe to find world-class carbon-reducing innovations that can make a hugely positive impact in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE. This agreement with Masdar City, one of the key agents of positive climate action in our region, is an extremely important one.

“We have long been an admirer of the company’s mission and vision and look forward to playing a role to help them achieve their important goals. Everyone at Zero Carbon Ventures is in no doubt that we can achieve great things together.”

Masdar City is already home to more than 1,000 businesses, encompassing a variety of organisations - from multinationals and SMEs to homegrown start-ups, committed to advancing the sustainability agenda and spearheading the innovations to realise greener, more sustainable urban living.