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Second day sessions of World Green Economy Summit 2026 explore ways to boost green finance · DEWA Podcasts

• 0:11
  The summit was organized by the Dubai Supreme
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  Council of Energy, the Dubai Electricity and
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  Water Authority, and the World Green Economy
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  Organization. It took place on the 21st and 22nd
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  of October, 2026, at the Dubai World Trade Center.
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  under the theme From Success to Scale, showcasing
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  the green economy. On blended finance, His Excellency
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  Dr. Ali Gharid Youf, Senegal's Minister of Environment
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  and Ecological Transition, Naveen Raza of HSBC,
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  and Joan Larea of Convergence Blended Finance
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  were moderated by Jonathan Maxwell of Sustainable
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  Development Capital. They cited high financing
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  costs and limited data as barriers and urged
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  guarantees, insurance, and public -private partnerships.
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  On climate resilience, moderator Rebecca McLaughlin
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  -Eastom was joined by His Excellency Stephen
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  Victor, Palau's Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries,
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  and the Environment, Dr. Shargil Bashir of First
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  Abu Dhabi Bank, Priya Sarma of Unilever, and
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  Marina Antonopoulou of Emirates Nature WWF. Antonopoulou
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  said, communities don't live in isolation. They
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  live in seascapes or landscapes, so you have
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  multiple users and multiple players operating.
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  So it's very important to make sure that we listen
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  to those communities and understand how they
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  depend on nature or natural ecosystems. The session
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  on AI for Energy Access, Grid Transformation,
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  and Energy Security was moderated by Ahmed Al
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  -Amra of the Global Green Growth Institute. Speakers
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  were His Excellency Thorik Ibrahim, Ambassador
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  of the Maldives to the UAE, Saifuddin Hamdi of
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  the African Development Bank Group, Bilal Khurshid
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  of Microsoft, Mudassar Asghar of GE Vernova,
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  Kais Al -Sawadi of Taka, Hulud Al -Awadi of MoroHub,
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  and Wafa Al -Sawa of Intel. On green finance
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  in the GCC, Sukuk comprised 44 % of outstanding
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  ESG -related debt issuance. Rebecca McLaughlin
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  -Easton moderated Alexander Limpka of Connect
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  Earth, Bashar al -Nator of Fitch Ratings, Avinash
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  Kumar of Earthhood, and Syed Adil Abbas of the
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  World Bank. On clean water, Anne Ligwinique of
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  Veolia Water Technologies and Kai -Uwe Berger
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  of A1 Water and Energy Group, moderated by Stefano
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  Castoldi of EY, warned that global water demand
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  will exceed supply by 40 % within a decade, requiring
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  about $300 billion in investment. The $7 trillion
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  opportunity session, moderated by Katie Jensen,
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  featured Aditya Saraswat of Rystad Energy, Yusuf
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  Luta of Luta Biofuels, Sanjay Komara of ExcelOne,
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  and Jonathan Keys of ING. Solar power and batteries
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  led, while hydrogen faces cost challenges. In
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  Electricity for All, Najeeb Saab of the Arab
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  Forum for Environment and Development. Angela
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  Hamsi, and Aisha Mohammed Al -Abdulli of the
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  UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment
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  took part. Hamsi said Ignite Energy Access has
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  connected 20 million people and targets 100 million
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  by 2030. On proving returns, 77 % of executives
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  say sustainability investments now outperform
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  others. Katie Jensen moderated Jonathan Maxwell,
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  Jessica Robinson of Solve Strategies, and Robin
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  Butteras of Deloitte Middle East, who noted that
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  around three -quarters of primary energy is wasted.
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  On agentic AI, 74 % of organizations remain stuck
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  in the pilot stage, against the UAE's goal of
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  3 trillion dirhams in GDP by 2031. Mira Al -Jazmi
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  of Enoch moderated Saif Al -Khabi of the Sofra
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  app. Mohamed Al -Balouchi of the Abu Dhabi Department
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  of Energy and Musa Al -Mansouri of SAP. Finally,
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  on food production, Gita Bahmad of the Food Engineer
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  and Marie Deschamps of Gombook said a 0 .4 %
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  rise in topsoil carbon could offset annual global
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  emissions and highlighted 62 ,000 UAE food sector
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  jobs expected by 2045.