The energy industry’s most influential thinkers tackled the biggest issues facing the region at the recently concluded inaugural Emirates Energy Efficiency Summit (EEES 2016) in Dubai, UAE.

Hosted by founding partners GE and The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the invitation-only summit held at the American University in Dubai, featured a programme of roundtable discussions and expert presentations.

Combining business and social interests with government action in order to drive progress on energy saving and climate change projects, the summit aimed to foster enhanced communication, while educating participants about key energy efficiency issues and trends.  With high-level delegates spanning the worlds of business, government and the media, the event provided a thought-provoking platform for two-way dialogue – with numerous takeaways that will go on to deliver real action.

Prince Albert II of Monaco attended the inaugural Emirates Energy Efficiency Summit and shared his own insights into the discussion.  He said: “As a follow up to the Euro Mediterranean meetings organized in Monaco over the past five years, the Emirates Energy Efficiency Summit offers a global approach to energy issues, due both to the questions raised and the eminent figures who provide answers. How can we mobilize individuals, companies and states for fundamental change, which is not cost neutral and whose results are sometimes distant? This question is I believe at the heart of any environmental commitment.”

Welcoming the guests to the university, Dr Lance de Masi, president of AUD, said: “Any role that AUD or its constituencies can play in facilitating discussion of this topic and the steps that need to be taken to improve awareness and provoke action by government and/or the private sector assists in the university's mission to contribute to society, both locally and worldwide.

“In that respect, I am pleased that attendees had the chance to hear directly from AUD students on this subject. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the wider national context of responsiveness circumscribed by the UAE's many achievements in the field of energy efficiency. Let us not forget the position of renewable and clean energy as a pillar of the UAE National Innovation Strategy.”

Among the prestigious speakers that took to the stage were Ahmad Buti Al Muhairbi, Secretary General, Supreme Council of Energy; Dr Meshgan Al Awar, secretary general Zayed International Prize for the Environment, Dubai and Abdulla Alshahyari, acting director of the Conservation and Efficiency Department at the UAE Ministry of Energy, who shared case studies and examples of best practice, as well as showcasing existing and future initiatives. – TradeArabia News Service