The World Future Energy Summit, of which ESG Mena is a proud media partner, will debut a Green Finance Conference during its 2024 edition, set to run from April 16-18 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).
The new conference will take place on April 17, gathering policymakers, asset managers, financiers, academics, environmentalists, and major energy corporates, with the aim of demystifying the green finance segment.
At the Green Finance Conference, speakers will explore topics such as financing global approaches to low-carbon economies, incentivising regional pathways to green financing, the need for climate finance regulation, and what’s required to lift green financing to the next level, among others.
Speakers at the conference include Shargiil Bashir, Chief Sustainability Officer at First Abu Dhabi Bank, Lina Osman, MD and Head – Sustainable Finance, Standard Chartered Bank UAE; Fawaz Sabri, Chief Technical Advisor, Private Sector Development & Banking, United Nations Development Programme; Eva Ramos Perez Torreblanca, Division Director – Environmental Policy Analysis and Economics, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi; Jana Elkova, Strategy & Entrepreneurship Expert, Ministry of Economy, UAE; Elias El Mrabet, Finance & Technology – Partnerships, COP28 UAE; David Auriau, CEO, Positive Zero; and Fahad Al Yafei, CTO & Head of Innovation Centre Middle East, Siemens Energy.
At the Green Finance Conference at WFES, hosted by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar, Ghazil Jabbar, Managing Director at Capital Connect, will also present a pre-launch overview of a Clean Energy Private Equity Fund set to launch later this year by the Pakistan Private Sector Energy Project and supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and its Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN), and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
The new fund will give preference to early-stage, high-impact investments.
“UNIDO is proud to bring the insights from the Pakistan Private Sector Energy activity funded by USAID and implemented by PFAN to the World Future Energy Summit,” commented Marko van Waveren Hogervorst, PFAN Programme Manager.
Adding: “We are excited to ‘pre-launch’ our Clean Energy Private Equity Fund and present our research on the EV market in Pakistan to investors and financiers and potential partners during the Summit and its conferences.”
Leen AlSebai, General Manager of RX Middle East and Head of the World Future Energy Summit, explained that green finance has an essential role in supporting the global shift towards more sustainable energy alternatives, by funding projects related to renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and hydrogen.”
“While demand for green capital grows, there are still questions around the mobilisation of transition capital and market standardisation. The Green Finance Conference will look to allay concerns, address the challenges, and identify opportunities,” said AlSebai.
Adding: “This is the right conference, at the right time, and in the right place as the Abu Dhabi Global Market strengthens its regulatory framework to boost its status as a sustainable finance hub and attract investment and capital to help fund climate-related projects and aid the decarbonisation of the UAE economy.”
Meanwhile, Masdar Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, commented: “We believe green bonds are an increasingly popular way of targeting private investment at renewable projects and will be a key instrument to pave the way to redress the global climate finance inequality between the global south and global north. Green finance will have a significant role to play in helping to achieve the UAE Consensus agreed at COP28.”
The World Future Energy Summit 2024 is set to welcome more than 30,000 visitors and 400 exhibitors and feature 350-plus speakers addressing solar, ecowaste, water, clean energy, climate and environment, and smart cities.
This year sees the addition of three new forums: The Pathway to 1.5C, Green Finance, and eMobility.