Press Release

UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and GGGI organize public-private knowledge sharing workshop

Abu Dhabi, 5 November 2012: The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate of Energy and Climate Change (MOFA-DECC), and Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) today launched the Green Growth Knowledge-Sharing Program in Abu Dhabi, bringing together over 60 officials from 30 UAE government entities and companies, as well as international experts, to discuss global best practices in green growth and their applications in the UAE.

The Green Growth Knowledge-Sharing Program builds on the January announcement of a national green growth strategy, which calls for an overhaul of UAE policies and planning to synergize economic growth, environmental conservation, and resource efficiency as part of the country’s 2021 vision. A series of workshops organized by MOFA-DECC and GGGI, the Knowledge-Sharing Program is accordingly designed to enhance understanding of green growth among UAE stakeholders by sharing practical implementation and evaluation methodologies and examples from both partner countries and domestic entities. The Knowledge-Sharing Program will also support capacity-building initiatives in the UAE and MENA region.

“Green growth is at the heart of the UAE’s vision for development.” said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar and the UAE’s Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change. “GGGI is a key component of our approach to implementing a green growth economic strategy. Using its global network of experts we hope to catalyze and enhance our sustainability initiatives, which have included driving clean technology research and development through Masdar Institute, as well as encouraging global policy and technology adoption across platforms such as the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. Together these activities are building a lasting platform for clean, long-term growth.”

Dr. Chanho Park, director of GGGI’s MENA headquarters in Abu Dhabi, said, “GGGI acts as a complement for the UAE’s emerging new growth engines in low-carbon, clean technologies and industries. The Knowledge-Sharing Platform brings tailored insight and solutions to UAE stakeholders, as well as enables dissemination of the UAE’s experiences to the broader MENA region via our Abu Dhabi office.”

The workshop showcased presentations on green growth and the UAE context from such experts as Dr. Chang Moo-sung, president of Green Technology Center in Korea; Dr. Sung Jin Kang of Korea University; Mr. Sameer Assaf of MOFA-DECC; Ms Diala Hawila of the International Renewable Energy Agency, the 158-member country international organization headquartered in Abu Dhabi; Dr. Nicolas Brandt of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); and Mr. Christian Henriksen of the Danish Ministry of Business and Growth.

The Knowledge-Sharing Program aims to enable UAE stakeholders to initiate, design, and implement green growth programmes and evaluation mechanisms, as well as feed their experiences back into further policymaking both in the UAE and overseas.

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is the world’s newest international organization and the first dedicated to green growth. Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, the Institute provides support for the development of green growth plans in developing and emerging countries. GGGI opened its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) headquarters in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City in July 2011 as part of a partnership with the UAE to spur economic transition in the region, focusing on capacity-building and knowledge exchange.