WGES 2026’s first-day sessions explore ways to scale up green solutions and accelerate the sustainable transition

The first day of the 12th World Green Economy Summit (WGES 2026), held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, featured  high-level panel discussions that examined the policies, technologies and business models shaping the transition to a green economy. Organised by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO), the summit took place on 21 and 22 October 2026 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, under the theme ‘From Success to Scale: Showcasing the Green Economy’.

Discussions spanned affordable green innovation, sustainable business and water management, as well as decarbonisation, energy storage, circularity, youth leadership, lower-carbon aviation, sustainable AI infrastructure and Dubai’s utility expertise.

In the session titled ‘The Innovation Equation: How to Bring Down the Cost of Green’, Vineet Mittal, founder and Director of Finance and Strategy at Navitas Solar, Dr Arshad Mansoor, President and CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and Ali bin Zayed Alfalasi, Deputy Managing Director of Downstream at Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), discussed the role of innovation in bringing down the cost of sustainable solutions. Alfalasi pointed to ENOC’s investments in clean energy and sustainable technologies and their environmental and economic impact.

“Since 2017, solar has become the norm at our Dubai stations. Our vapour recovery system saves over 500,000 litres yearly, and a hydrogen pilot is under way at Expo City. Our green investment is for the economy and for the world,” said Alfalasi.

Panellists also highlighted the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the world’s largest single-site solar park, particularly its seventh phase, one of the largest solar-plus-storage projects globally. They also called for greater knowledge-sharing, frameworks that extend beyond net zero, and safeguards to manage artificial intelligence (AI) risks.

The ‘Green as a Growth Strategy: The Business Case for Sustainability’ session explored how embedding sustainability in business models can strengthen profitability, efficiency and resilience, while using data to measure returns. Panellists highlighted DEWA’s clean-energy investments and public-private partnerships, the need to go beyond LEED certification in measuring building performance, SME financing and capacity-building, and preparing future generations to lead the green transition. The session featured Nick Falkowski, CEO and co-founder of Meaningful Planet, Yohaan Cama, Head of Corporate Sustainability at GEMS Education, Prof Suzanna Elmassah, Professor of Economics and Director of the Sustainability Programme at Zayed University, Dr Aaesha Alnuaimi, Vice President of the Sustainability and Innovation Centre at DEWA, and Deepthy K.B, Senior Director at GBCI MENA and the US Green Building Council.

The ‘Water as a Business Imperative’ panel discussion highlighted that water management requires effective governance, measurable targets and long-term investment. Panellists discussed protecting marine ecosystems, assessing water-related risks, leveraging blue bonds, building lasting partnerships and placing water stewardship under board-level oversight to strengthen business resilience. The session was moderated by Amna Al Noor, Programme Specialist at the UN Global Compact Network in the UAE, and featured Komal Sharma, Head of Sustainability and ESG Governance at Emirates NBD, and Marianne Fletcher, Acting General Manager at Azraq.

In the ‘Decarbonising at Scale: Clean Energy Solutions for Net-Zero’ session, panellists discussed the latest carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies, waste-to-fuel pathways and the importance of stable long-term policy, against the backdrop of financed decarbonisation projects doubling last year. The session featured Dr Dharmesh Kumar, Associate Director for Earth and Environment at WSP; Robert M. Hertzberg, Board Member at First Public Hydrogen and former Speaker of the California State Assembly; and Amel Chadli, President of Gulf Cluster countries at Schneider Electric.

“Our smart Dubai headquarters saved 762 tonnes of carbon dioxide in a year. Imagine every UAE building doing the same, connected to the grid for flexibility. The UAE executes fast: a 200-megawatt data centre, built from desert in under a year,” said Chadli.

The ‘Youth, Innovation and the Next Generation of Sustainability Leadership’ panel discussion emphasised the need to empower youths to drive national climate planning while combining green and human skills, which represented 59% of sought-after skills listed in UAE job postings. Panellists also examined financing and market-adoption gaps as they advocated phased funding and cross-sector partnerships that connect learning with employment opportunities. The session, moderated by Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Senior Programme Officer Dawar Hameed, featured Ahmed Al Amra, GGGI Representative in the UAE, Mona Ghandour, Vice President of Innovative Solutions and Strategic Partnerships at the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation, and Mohamed Sahli, Engineer at the Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai’s Sustainability and Energy Centre.

During the ‘Circular by Design: Redesigning Business Models for the Green Economy’ session, Timothy Clarke, CEO of Warsan Waste Management Company, and Anssi Mikola, CEO and founder of RiverRecycle, discussed how waste can be treated as an economic resource rather than a problem. The speakers covered river plastic recovery, waste-to-energy as a last resort after reduction and recycling, how to turn low-value plastics into construction materials and how plastic credits, flexible certification and waste heat can make circular businesses scalable.

The ‘Driving Success: The Middle East’s Energy Storage Solutions’ session addressed the growing role of energy storage in scaling renewable energy across the region, with battery storage installations expected to grow significantly by 2030. Panellists highlighted the need for diverse storage technologies, supportive regulatory frameworks, multiple revenue streams and robust safety measures to improve grid reliability, energy security and economic competitiveness. The session featured Avanthika Satheesh, Director of Consulting at Customized Energy Solutions (CES) in the MENA region, and Jin Xiaolong, Vice President of the Shanghai Electric Group. It was moderated by Bilal Khurshid, Executive Director of Global Energy and Utilities at Microsoft.

The session titled ‘MRV 2.0: The Intersection of AI, Big Data and Regulation for Delivering Climate Transparency and Integrity at Scale’ featured Dr Titia de Mes, Senior Vice President for Sustainability at TAQA Water Solutions, and Dawar Hameed, Senior Programme Officer at GGGI, with Siddhartha Nauduri, MENA Regional and Programme Lead for Climate Actions and Transparency Systems at GGGI, as moderator. The session examined greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions monitoring, inconsistent measurement methods and data governance. Panellists examined how to integrate sensors, satellites and operational systems to automate data collection and reporting, while ensuring data quality and confidentiality and maintaining human oversight to avoid AI-induced errors.

The ‘Scaling Lower Carbon Aviation Fuels in the Middle East: From Production to End-Use Market Readiness’ session focused on how lower-carbon aviation fuel complements sustainable aviation fuel in reducing aviation emissions, while highlighting the region’s potential to leverage its refining and logistics capabilities. Panellists emphasised regulatory certainty, internationally recognised certification, long-term offtake agreements, transition finance and the need to address transport and storage gaps to make projects commercially viable and stimulate demand. The session featured Komal Sharma, Head of Sustainability and ESG Governance at Emirates NBD, Fredrick Ndi-Obiosa, Senior Manager for Business Development and Commercial at Masdar, Stuart Turl, Vice President for Decarbonisation and Consulting in the Middle East at Wood, and Shahd Aldhanhani, Economic Activities Specialist in the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.

In the session titled ‘Exporting Utility Excellence: Extending Dubai’s Leading Infrastructure Models to Global Markets (DEWA International)’, speakers highlighted Dubai’s proven utility expertise, technological innovation and public-private partnerships. Panellists also emphasised the need to adapt business models to local markets, build trusted partnerships and make strategic investments amid growing demand and substantial long-term investment opportunities in power, water and AI infrastructure. The session was moderated by Katie Jensen, News Anchor at Dubai One, and featured Valerio Capizzi, Managing Director and Global Lead for the Utilities and Energy Sector at ING, Dr Arshad Mansoor, President and CEO of EPRI, Danny Touma, Global Co-Lead for AI Infrastructure and Deals Energy Transition Lead at PwC Middle East; and Amadeo Di Lodovico, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company’s Dubai office.

In the ‘Powering AI Sustainably: Advancing Smarter and Greener Data Centres’ session, Mohammad Bin Sulaiman, CEO of Moro Hub, a Digital DEWA company, discussed the growing energy and water demands of AI data centres with Darren Kimura, President and CEO of AISquared and Jad Dib, Partner at McKinsey & Company’s Dubai office. They also explored more efficient AI models, advanced cooling technologies and integrated infrastructure planning, stressing the importance of stakeholder collaboration, sustainability monitoring and clean energy investment to position the UAE as a global leader in sustainable AI infrastructure.