ADSW opening ceremony will take place at Expo 2020 Dubai

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), the global platform for accelerating sustainable development, hosted by Masdar, has announced a new collaboration, which will bring elements of the Week to Expo 2020 Dubai. The ADSW opening ceremony and the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards ceremony will take place at the Dubai Exhibition Centre on January 17, 2022.

The announcement was made during Expo 2020’s Climate and Biodiversity Week (the first of 10 Theme Weeks that anchor the Programme for People and Planet) which aims to mobilise the world to take decisive action for the health of our world. Bringing ADSW’s vital platforms to Expo 2020 will further demonstrate the UAE’s leading role in driving action on climate change, at home, in the region, and throughout the world.

ADSW is one of the largest of gatherings of its kind, which welcomes each year more than 45,000 participants from more than 170 countries. The week will return between 15 - 19 January 2022 and feature a series of high-level in person and virtual events.

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Chairman of Masdar, said: Hosting the opening of ADSW together with the ZSP award ceremony at Expo 2020 Dubai will serve to reinforce the UAE’s commitment to climate action and sustainability, as key drivers of the UAE’s progressive model for economic growth. The combination of ADSW’s experience as a convenor with Expo 2020 Dubai’s global reach will help expand partnerships, drive innovation and open up new economic opportunities. As the UAE marks 50 years of progress, with the Principles of the Fifty, sustainability will remain a cornerstone of plans for future growth, creating new knowledge, new skills, new industries and new jobs.”

The ADSW Opening Ceremony and the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony, will bring together more than 600 VIPs from around the world, including heads of state, government ministers, industry leaders and country ambassadors. During the Opening Ceremony, Dr Sultan Al Jaber will deliver a keynote speech.

Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “As one of our three subthemes, Sustainability is integrated across the entirety of Expo 2020 Dubai. We aim to be one of the most sustainable World Expos in history, supporting the UAE’s continued efforts to build cleaner, safer, and healthier communities for its people. As a long-standing platform for sustainability, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week has a legacy of bringing together the global community, facilitating dialogue and accelerating sustainable development. These qualities align with the aims of the Programme for People and Planet at Expo and our goal of catalysing a one-of-a-kind movement to shape the legacy that Expo 2020 leaves the world.

“For the six months of Expo 2020, the world’s gaze will be on the UAE. Holding the opening of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony at Expo 2020, when the world’s gaze is on the UAE, exemplifies how we can all work together to mitigate climate change.” Since 2008, Abu Dhabi has provided a sustainable platform for the global community that has grown through its initiatives and events to emerge as a thought leader and catalyst that accelerates sustainable development around the world.

The week will bring together policy makers, industry specialists, technology pioneers and the next generation of sustainability leaders to engage in dialogue and take action to advance the global sustainability agenda.

The 2022 programme will include the ADSW Opening Ceremony, Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony, ADSW Summit, IRENA Assembly, Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum, Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER) Forum, Youth 4 Sustainability Hub, and the World Future Energy Summit - Exhibitions and Forums.

Launched at the 2008 World Future Energy Summit by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Zayed Sustainability Prize is a tribute to his father, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and his sustainability legacy.

Over 352 million people have been directly or indirectly impacted by the sustainability solutions and school projects of the 86 recipients of the Zayed Sustainability Prize winners since the first awards ceremony in 2009.

The Prize’s US$3 million annual fund rewards winners $600,000 in each category; the Global High Schools category is split into six world region winners, with each school able to claim up to $100,000 to start or further expand their project. The six world regions of the Global High Schools category are The Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, Europe & Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia & Pacific.

All ADSW events other than its Opening Ceremony and the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony will take place in Abu Dhabi or will be hosted virtually.