Check out key highlights from World Future Energy Summit in UAE: Day 1 in focus

In an unprecedented meteorological occurrence, the UAE noted torrential rainfall on Tuesday leading to severe flooding in several areas. It surpasses any documented precipitation event since the inception of data collection in 1949, as per media reports.

The amount of rainfall Dubai received in a single day equals the amount that typically falls Uber the span of 1.5 years. The flooding highlights the pressing need to control the climate crisis as rising temperatures and an El Nino phenomenon trigger threatening events globally.

Simultaneously, the 16th edition of the World Future Energy Summit, hosted by Masdar, opened in the UAE on Tuesday. The event has been noting calls for collaborative action to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Summit hears potential of “Blended Finance”

Delivering a keynote speech to open the three-day Summit, HH Sheikha Shamma commended the recent collaborative launch of the Roadmap to 1.5C by the COP Presidencies Troika – consisting of the UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil.

The UAE hosted COP28 last year and the other 2 nations are future hosts. The President and Chief Executive of the UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators (UICCA) underscored that limiting global climate change to 1.5 degrees requires “unprecedented finance”.

Stressing the power of convening diverse voices to promote dialogue, information exchange and creative problem solving, Her Highness said the ongoing Summit offers crucial opportunities to exchange views, sparking ideas and collaborative action.

She highlighted the potential of “Blended Finance” – broadly defined as a combination of public concessional finance and public or private capital. The model is being recognised as a mechanism to deliver the financial resources needed to fight climate change.

The World Future Energy Summit is also noting the need for a global course-correction to address the deepening disparity in energy transition. The energy transition is accelerating rapidly but remains off track amid an uneven distribution of clean energy growth.

Boris Johnson’s key speech at Green Hydrogen Summit

Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister of the UK, addressed the opening of the Green Hydrogen Summit, hosted by Masdar as part of the three-day Summit, praising the UAE as one of the great centres of technological innovation.

Johnson cited the UAE’s hosting of the COP28 Summit as a “triumph” for reversing net-zero sceptics. The Gulf state organised the annual climate conference last year, paving the way for numerous essential agreements and financial resources to combat climate change.

COP28 Dubai achieved a great accomplishment on its first day itself as participants agreed to operationalise the landmark Loss and Damage Fund. The Fund seeks to compensate vulnerable countries for the brutal consequences of the climate crisis.

In addition, the climate event also resulted in the UAE Consensus that calls for a transition away from fossil fuels. It notes the need to embrace clean energy at a greater scale to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as stated in the 2015 Paris agreement.

Exploring solutions at World Future Energy Summit

Dr Bertrand Piccard, Chairman of Climate Impulse and a prominent explorer and clean technology pioneer, came next, revealing his latest renewables-fuelled globetrotting expedition: circumnavigating the globe in an aircraft fuelled by green hydrogen.

Piccard hopes to complete the flight in 2028. It comes after his historic 23-day journey around the globe in a solar-powered aircraft in 2015 that started and included in the UAE. During his speech, the explorer highlighted the “limitless potential” of green hydrogen.

During the Summit, Chairman of Masdar Dr Sultan Al Jaber, also the COP28 President, embarked on an extensive tour, talking to the youth, delving into innovative technologies and exploring transformative solutions that are defining the future of sustainability.