Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Concludes Special Edition at COP28 With Call for Continued Climate Action Dialogue

• Held under the patronage of UAE President HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ADSW activities provided platform for urgent climate discussions addressing the just transition to a net-zero future
• Anchor event ADSW Summit attended by HH Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council
• ADSW Summit brought leaders from the public sector, civil society and business to discuss sustainable investments, climate innovations and financial inclusion
• 10 roundtables engaged over 200 thought leaders at ADSW Special Edition
• ADSW Live welcomed over 20 ministers, CEOs and NGO leaders to its COP28 studio
• Inaugural ADSW Digital Art Competition winner announced during COP28

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, the ADSW Special Edition at COP28 took place during the UAE’s hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference, marking the nation’s Year of Sustainability and enabling timely, relevant climate conversations.

Championed by the UAE and its clean energy powerhouse, Masdar, the ADSW Special Edition at COP28 brought together crucial thought leaders at a pressing time. ADSW bridged the Blue and Green Zones at COP28 to maintain worldwide climate momentum through impactful and inclusive dialogue between all global stakeholders and translating pledges into practical solutions. World leaders, global CEOs and international sustainability advocates participated throughout ADSW’s events to discuss key sustainability issues, including the green energy transition, scaling climate tech, the circular economy, accelerating clean hydrogen, ensuring food and water security, decarbonizing cities and more.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, said: “As the world came together in the UAE to drive the global climate agenda, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week rose to the occasion in its Special Edition at COP28, gathering together the voices from around the globe who are sounding the urgent call for climate action – as ADSW has tirelessly done for the past 15 years. In this new era of sustainability, the forum that ADSW provides is more crucial than ever as a place for the conversations that transform pledges into action.”

The flagship ADSW Summit brought together over 700 global decision-makers and thought leaders in sustainability to discuss innovative pathways to net zero, practical solutions to finance climate action, and transformative tech for food and energy security. The event was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence; His Excellency Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of State; His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and President of COP28; His Excellency Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure; Her Excellency Sara Awad Issa Musallam, Chairperson of Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge; His Excellency Engineer Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Abu Dhabi Chairman of the Department of Energy; His Excellency Ahmed Jassem Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development; and His Excellency Saif Saeed Ghobash, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

ADSW Summit speakers included the Hon Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados; Ray Dalio, Founder and CIO Mentor of Bridgewater Associates; Ignacio S. Galán, Executive Chairman of Iberdrola, S.A.; Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar; Hon Seve Paeniu, Minister of Finance of Tuvalu; HE Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister for Energy and Infrastructure, United Arab Emirates; Maví Zingoni, Chief Executive Officer, GE Power, and Cate Ambrose, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, The Global Private Capital Association.

During the ADSW Summit, HE Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), provided more details about the newly launched Global Climate Finance Centre, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, which will accelerate global climate finance and market design.

A series of outcome-focused ADSW roundtable discussions ran throughout the ADSW Special Edition at COP28 to foster new initiatives, build new partnerships and create impact at scale to reach net zero. In a broad, multistakeholder approach, the roundtables hosted participants from across COP28’s Blue and Green zones in focused dialogues to accelerate climate action around reaching net-zero in the built environment, investing in the decarbonization of heavy industry, making petrochemicals part of the circular economy, scaling climate tech, developing the clean hydrogen economy, future proofing family enterprises from climate financial risks, leveraging data to decarbonize cities, investing in sustainable and equitable food systems, developing clean water solutions for climate adaptation and addressing the health challenges caused by climate change.

The ADSW Partnership Hub ran a series of structured collaborative activities at the Alif Pavilion December 5–6, where many of the ADSW roundtables took place, creating a space for delegates and the broader public to exchange ideas and build successful and meaningful collaborations and business relationships. In addition to roundtables, the Hub hosted panels and networking events to advance climate action, including a day of discussions supporting SMEs in their net-zero journey, in partnership with SustainUAE, and a dedicated program on Abu Dhabi as a clean energy capital, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.

The inaugural ADSW Digital Art Competition announced its winner during COP28, with artistic duo Nastplas named the overall winner. With an overarching theme of preserving the planet, the competition invited emerging and established artists of all ages from across the globe to create original digital artworks that align with COP28's critical climate action themes. Artists were asked to capture how precious and vulnerable the planet is to raise awareness about climate change and inspire climate action. The competition received over 100 submissions, with 33 percent of submitted artworks created by AI and 55% submitted by women artists.

ADSW’s virtual content platform, ADSW Live streamed a series of events and interviews live and direct from the Green Zone, capturing daily reaction to climate discussions, and sharing timely, relevant sustainability-oriented content wrap-ups. More than 20 interviews across five days brought ministers, CEOs and NGO leaders from around the world into the ADSW Live studio at COP28, including HE Dr. Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development of Morocco; Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of Emirates Global Aluminium; Nyanta Spelman, CEO and Founder of the Rainforest Partnership; Mercedes Vela Monserrate, CEO of the Global Climate Finance Centre; Dr. Thomas Becker, Group Vice President of Sustainability at BMW; Andrew Harper, Special Advisor on Climate Action, UNHCR; Julia Souder, Chief of the Global Renewables Alliance; Dr. Omnia El Omrani COP28 Envoy for Health; Derek Rozycki, Head of Responsible Investing at Mubadala.

Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER) hosted the first Arab Women Leaders' Summit in collaboration with the UAE COP28 Presidency, exploring the critical relationship between gender equality and climate action, and Youth for Sustainability (Y4S) hosted the Y4S Forum at COP28 to provide a platform for youth to engage in fruitful discussions, share their voices, discuss ideas and promote solutions to engage youth in climate mitigation.

Other major events throughout the week included the COP28 edition of the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum (ADSFF) and the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum. ADSFF explored the global financial sector’s increasing focus on unleashing the trillions of dollars in private finance needed to power the world toward net zero by the middle of the century. The eighth Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum brought energy industry executives, policymakers and thought leaders together to set the energy agenda for the year ahead.

ADSW at COP28 confirmed sponsors include the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, Emirates Global Aluminium, Emirates Steel Arkan, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Investcorp, Abu Dhabi Chamber, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, Mubadala, Huawei Tech, HSBC, GE Vernova, Baker Hughes, Agthia Group, Abu Dhabi Investment Office, BEEAH, SLB, Gotion, Inobat and Ne’ma.

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week is looking forward to joining those who will gather to champion the sustainable energy transition at the World Future Energy Summit taking place April 16–18, 2024 in Abu Dhabi.