Masdar contributes to the global debate for viable energy solutions

The United Arab Emirates received support by the 24 participating governments of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) to host the second Ministerial in Abu Dhabi in 2011.

The UAE participated in the first-ever Ministerial in Washington, DC on July 19-20 to discuss collective avenues of cooperation and knowledge sharing in promoting policies and programs that address the development of clean energy technologies and the mitigation of climate change.

The participating governments announced more than a half-dozen new initiatives to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies around the world.  Programs announced will avoid the need to build more than 500 mid-sized power plants in the next 20 years, promote the rapid deployment of electric vehicles, support the growing global market for renewable energy and carbon capture technologies, bring solar lanterns or other improved lighting services to more than 10 million poor people by 2015, and help encourage young women to pursue careers in clean energy.

Given its leadership in developing and deploying clean energy technologies and its innovative and leading position in advancing renewable energy policies, the UAE will be hosting the second Ministerial in Abu Dhabi after having successfully hosted the CEM Preparatory Meeting last month.

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His Excellency Dr. Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said:  “The United Arab Emirates embraces the opportunity to host the second Clean Energy Ministerial and we look forward to working with participating governments to actively drive the realization of the announced initiatives. This offers the UAE an opportunity to further demonstrate our active participation in the global pursuit to advance clean energy technology and policies.”

The UAE Government is fully committed to becoming a key player in the implementation of renewable energy policies and technologies and has demonstrated this through the development of Masdar, the multifaceted renewable energy initiative based in Abu Dhabi, and its commitment to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which is also headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar and UAE’s Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change, said: “The UAE, through the foresight and commitment of its visionary leadership, has quickly become the destination and platform to discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities of clean energy and climate change. Since the inception of Masdar we have always strived to position the United Arab Emirates as an open global platform for cooperation in addressing clean energy access, climate change mitigation and sustainable human development.  We are pleased to see that our goals are being achieved and see the UAE as playing an important role in the clean energy economy of the future and welcome opportunities to work with our international partners to build that future.”

The Ministerial brought together the 17 members of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), which include: Australia; Brazil; Canada; China; the European Union; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Italy; Japan; Korea; Mexico; Russia; South Africa; the United Kingdom; and the United States. Alongside the MEF countries, eight other governments were selected to participate in the Clean Energy Ministerial process, including the UAE.