The UAE has signed a deal with the World Energy Council (WEC) that will see Abu Dhabi host the ‘WEC Energy Leader Dialogue’ (WELD) in January next year during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

 

The signing took place in the presence of UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei at the World Energy Congress being held in Daegu, South Korea.

 

Under the theme of ‘Energy Challenges to 2050: Balancing the Need for Energy Security, Energy Access and Environmental Impact Mitigation’, the dialogue will bring together global energy leaders to focus on critical and emerging energy issues such as the energy-water nexus, renewables and energy access, as well as the outlook and implications of the shale gas revolution. 

 

Weld will be co-hosted by Al Mazrouei and Marie-Jose Nadeau, Chair of the World Energy Council. 

 

“This is an important addition to the broad energy debate the UAE fosters during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week,” remarked Al Mazrouei. “The WEC Energy Leader Dialogue will reinforce the global and regional messages about the future of the industry.”

 

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (January 18 to 24, 2014) is one of the world’s largest annual sustainability events, drawing over 30,000 public and private sector delegates from some 160 countries. 

 

January’s ADSW includes the region’s pre-eminent trade show and policy dialogue, the World Future Energy Summit; the General Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); the International Water Summit; and the award ceremony of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, the world’s leading sustainable energy honour.  

 

The MoU was signed by Dr Matar Al Niyadi, the undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Energy and Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, the director of Energy and Climate Change at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and on behalf of Masdar, as well as Dr. Christoph Frei, the secretary general of WEC. 

 

“The UAE plays a unique role in the global energy landscape and is well positioned to add insight to a discussion on everything from hydrocarbons to nuclear and renewables,” said Al Niyadi.“We are delighted that the UAE will nowpartner with WEC to highlight the next generation of energy issues.” 

 

“The UAE is at the heart of the traditional energy industry, and a pioneering investor in its alternatives,”said Dr Al Zeyoudi.

 

“Adding the WEC platform to Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2014 enhances the discussion of how global energy options can be shaped and leveraged for the sustainability of the industry,” he added.

 

The UAE has announced its intention to bid for the 2019 World Energy Congress when the process begins in January 2014. 

 

The World Energy Congress is held every three years; hosting the Congress in Abu Dhabi would mark the first time in the event’s 90-year history that it has been held in a member country of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).-TradeArabic News Service