Forum Agenda

A panel of senior regional leaders from the public and private sector will examine the essential partnerships and collaborations needed to accelerate regional decarbonisation. Following COP28, and the first Global Stocktake, the world must move faster and greater coordination and cooperation between governments and the private sector is seen to be one of the areas where progress is urgently required. Experts will discuss the role of governments and business and new paradigms and frameworks to enable the complex economic transition ahead. Importantly, they will look at critical steps required from government including supportive policymaking and greater incentives to engage and facilitate private sector action. The panel will look at the role of business and corporate leadership in innovating, mobilising and delivering the technologies, products and solutions needed to decarbonise our economies.

The session will see sustainability leaders discuss the key takeaways from the COP28 conference in Dubai and the resulting action required from governments and the private sector in the MENA region over the short, medium and longer-term. Billed to be a “transformational COP of action” and first Global Stocktake, experts will assess the success of the annual climate gathering and its aims of building consensus, achieving greater inclusion and adopting a clear plan of action. They will examine progress on the 20230 Paris Agreement targets for emissions reductions and resolutions reached on other critical agenda items such as pragmatic energy transition, biodiversity, financing, loss and damage, and other solutions for vulnerable countries.

With financing and large-scale investment essential to a successful transition to net zero, the session will see experts from leading financing banks and organisations talk about current financing trends in the MENA region, discuss where the priorities should fall and how to boost lending power for sectors and projects that help in the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions and those that promote and protect biodiversity. In focus will be the tools and financial instruments available and or required to mobilise and expand capital for more broad-based climate action as well the role of global climate finance frameworks including initiatives expected to be agreed at COP 28, to guide the financial sector in setting priorities and meeting major funding gap including the urgent need to ramp up private capital flows into nature-based solutions.

Energy and financing experts will look at the important role of the MENA region in global energy transition. They will discuss pragmatic approaches to a successful transition and exchange views on how fast decarbonision can take place – specifically looking at phasing down vs phasing out of fossil fuels. They’ll examine funding requirements, increased access to and use of alternative forms of reliable energy from wind and solar to the viability of nuclear and hydrogen power. Experts will discuss initiatives across the region’s national energy producers to invest and diversify into renewables and technology development and deployment to support the transition. The session will also hear from leading regional renewable energy companies, which are significantly ramping up capacity to support and help accelerate regional decarbonisation goals.

Critical to a net-zero world is the reimagining and building of cities for the future. This session will look at how MENA governments and developers are planning for and creating low-carbon communities that will introduce new paradigms. The discussion will focus on the many stakeholders and their roles in envisioning, building and operating energy efficient, low-emissions environments. We will aim to showcase some global success stories and some of the most innovative and forward-thinking players and projects in the region. Experts will delve the kinds of designs, materials, infrastructure and technologies being used to create and power cleaner, greener cities. Importantly, we will also look at how these cities of the future can help accelerate a shift in mindset and behaviours by providing environments that enable people to embrace new, more sustainable ways of living, coming together and moving about their lives.

The session will see operations experts address the impact of climate change and the road to net zero on the development and maintenance of robust and resilient supply chains. As climate change comes to impact more and more businesses around the world, leaders must have strategies in place to protect and secure their supply chains. While taking action to reduce emissions and move their businesses towards carbon neutrality, companies must also face and manage pressures associated with identifying carbon flashpoints in their supply chains and ensuring these emissions are also addressed as part of their Scope 3 reductions. Experts will discuss how to tackle these critical issues. Specifically they will provide insight into the strategies and tactics being used by market leading businesses, in the region and globally, and the needed innovation, technologies, and collaborations to decarbonise supply chains.

Regulatory, compliance and reporting experts will examine trends and developments in sustainability regulation and disclosure globally, and new and developing MENA regulations aimed at encouraging greater climate disclosure. They will discuss the role of policy making and whether more robust rules and incentives are needed from governments to accelerate private sector action. Experts will share opinions on what good reporting looks like, examples of MENA market leaders, and the most pressing challenges that face companies as they seek or are mandated to ramp up disclosure. Lastly, the panel will address the impact of “greenwashing” labels that have driven many companies towards “greenhushing”, and how clear regulation can encourage and give businesses greater comfort in sharing their climate commitments and agendas.