THE ZAYED FUTURE ENERGY PRIZE AT RIO+20 Introduction The Zayed Future Energy Prize is proud of its ever growing community - made up of world leaders, technical, academic and industry experts as well as world renowned activists from around the globe. From June 13-22 2012, the Prize and members of its community participated in Rio+20; the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, hosted in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro as a follow up to the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) also held in the same city. The conference was organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and hosted 45,381 guests from 188 countries – and over 100 heads of state and government with around 12,000 delegates. Meanwhile, RIO+20 boasted over 500 side events that discussed topics ranging from energy to empowerment and water to a green economy. In its mandate to encourage countries, companies, individuals and high schools around the world to continue to have a positive impact on our sustainable future through innovation, long term vision, leadership and impact. A team from the Zayed Future Energy Prize participated actively throughout the Summit, engaging in several discussions and collaborating on active dialogue with partners. Alongside the Director General of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the Prize secretariat team, a variety of our Jury and evaluation committee members and previous winners, participated in the RIO+20 Summit and its accompanying side events. This recap is the Zayed Future Energy Prize look into our community’s participation at RIO+20. Dr Al Jaber, Dr Al-Zeyoudi, Mr Al Lamki, Dr Griffiths and Dr Al-Hosany at the UAE Pavilion (left to right) “Building the Future We Want” Dr. Al Jaber impressions post RIO+20 Over a period of two weeks, Rio has seen the biggest gathering in a decade of world leaders to discuss sustainability issues. Following on from the original Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, Rio+20 has captured the world’s attention even at a time of multiple global crises. It is always challenging to get 193 countries to come to agreement. And yet at Rio, an agreement was struck that will have implications for decades to come. The first Rio Summit created many of the processes that still dominate the sustainability agenda today, including Conventions on climate change, desertification and biodiversity. In comparison, the outcome of this Summit - aimed as it was to take stock of progress, identify gaps and propose new initiatives - has inevitably felt less dramatic. Indeed, much of the media’s coverage of Rio+20 has been filled with cynicism over the lack of ambitious outcomes in the text. Critics are right to argue that the language is often weak, urging rather than committing to action. But I believe this negativity is overdone. Indeed, from the UAE’s perspective, the Rio text, titled “The Future We Want”, contained some important results. I would like to highlight a few. First, the introduction of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of 8 goals agreed in 2000 that have guided development and aid for more than a decade, have had some notable successes. But they do not yet encompass the full set of drivers of poverty and unsustainability. For example, the current MDGs do not address access to energy, and only weakly address environmental degradation. The SDGs aim to fill these gaps, and will have a major impact in the years to come. The UAE played a central role in shaping this outcome which I will come back to later. Second, the importance of sustainable energy in providing modern energy services to all is now clearly on the international agenda. The UN’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Initiative, for which I serve on the High Level Group, is clearly recognized in the text. While the importance of this issue merited a much stronger outcome in the text, I was pleased that SE4All’s three goals, of providing universal access to energy, doubling efficiency and doubling the global share of renewable energy, are now properly embedded in the UN’s priorities. Third, there is real prominence of the role of women’s empowerment in shaping a more sustainable future in the agreement. This is something that the UAE has long championed, with women increasingly driving our clean technology and innovation agendas. Finally, there is a push in the text to support greater availability and transparency of environmental information, which is essential to better sustainability policy and decision-making. In particular, the Eye on Earth network, including the Summit Declaration, and special initiatives agreed in Abu Dhabi last year, is endorsed. There are numerous other outcomes I could point to, but across the board it is clear that the Rio outcome will give new impetus to the sustainable development agenda. The outcomes of Rio are not an end point, but the beginning of a program of work that will take time to implement ambitiously. I want to turn next to the role of the UAE. As Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Khalid Al Qasimi, the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Trade and the head of the UAE’s delegation to Rio, pointed out in her speech, the Rio process itself maps neatly onto milestones in our own evolution as a country. The first Rio Summit took place when the UAE itself was only 20 years old. Our leadership had already made great strides in advancing the country’s development, but it was very much a work in progress. We already had successes to point to in sustainable development, particularly in advancing conservation, but our international role on these issues was modest. Today, the UAE is placing itself at the forefront of the sustainable development agenda, and this was highly visible in Rio. In the negotiations themselves, the UAE has been recognized as a creative and active participant. Particularly notable has been our contribution to the SDGs. The UAE, together with Colombia and Peru, issued a concept paper in April that did much to shape the debate, and our team worked closely with the Brazilian presidency to craft a viable agreement. Equally important, the UAE has been a major driver for sustainable energy in Rio. In addition to working successfully to see the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative in the text itself, we hosted a high profile reception to promote its activities along with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. The announcement by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development of its first round of finance for renewable energy projects in partnership with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) gave particular weight to our role. On the Green Economy, another hot topic in Rio, the UAE has been a leading voice. The UAE is host to the regional office of the Global Green Growth Institute, and is working with it to develop and promote a vision of the green economy. This concept frames clean technology as not only an environmental investment but as the basis for future jobs and economic growth. In addition to our role across a range of negotiating issues, the UAE had an important physical presence. Our pavilion played host to a broad range of leading UAE organizations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Water, the Ministry Energy, the Dubai Supreme Energy Council, the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, Masdar, and many others. Together they were able to showcase an impressive array of UAE initiatives that give real substance to our leadership role. This leadership does not end with the Rio Summit. In Rio, the UAE was pleased to announce Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. In January 2013, this event will bring together the highly successful World Future Energy Summit with the International Renewable Energy Conference, the IRENA General Assembly, the inaugural International Water Summit and the Zayed Future Energy Prize award ceremony. Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week underlines the UAE’s determination to maintain the dialogue kicked off at Rio+20 and bring the world together to find solutions for our sustainability challenges. For a young country to play such a central role in sustainable development is something we can all be proud of. Under the direction given to us by our leaders we have been able to shape a promising future for our country, and make a valuable contribution to the world. A Note From Michael Liebreich CEO, Bloomberg New Energy Finance Zayed Future Energy Prize research and analysis partners For me, Rio+20 marked the culmination of a year’s work on the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Group for the Sustainable Energy For All initiative. All those conference calls and preparatory meetings suddenly make sense when you hear that 52 developing countries have signed up to work towards the initiative’s goals: energy access for all; doubling the rate of improvement of energy efficiency; and doubling the proportion of renewables in the world’s energy mix. And even more countries came on board during the Rio conference itself. On the private enterprise side, Rio+20 saw commitments totalling over $50bn, with major initiatives launched by Siemens, Statoil, Bank of America and others. My main takeaway from Rio was extraordinary dynamism of public-private partnerships such as Sustainable Energy for All, particularly in contrast to the disappointing outcome of the formal process. The private sector, working with enlightened policy-makers at all levels municipal, state, national, bilateral and even multilaterally - seems to be running far ahead of what nation-states and blocs are able to agree in the negotiating rooms. In the aeroplane back to London I sat next to a very disappointed negotiator from an African delegation, who said Rio+20 had been a waste of time. I told him he had been in the wrong meetings! Sessions I attended had discussed real initiatives to grid-connected renewable energy projects, start producing cellulosic ethanol, provide solar lighting to all, roll out village mini-grids and eliminate gas flaring - all in his own country. Elsewhere in Rio the development banks had committed $175bn to public transportation, and there were countless other examples. Of course Masdar and the team behind the Zayed Future Energy Prize have been intimately involved in Sustainable Energy for All right from the start. It has been a pleasure serving alongside Dr Sultan al Jaber on the High-Level Group; the group has held meetings in Abu Dhabi; and Masdar has made its own substantial commitments under the initiative. In fact the last thing I did before leaving for the airport in Rio was to attend the reception hosted by Masdar in honour of Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, to thank him for emphasising the pivotal role energy access and energy sustainability will play in all of the development goals discussed in Rio. As for Zayed Future Energy Prize participants and winners, they kept popping up in Rio! Not just in the displays at the UAE / Masdar Pavilion, but everywhere. Inaugural winner Dipal Barua’s Grameen Shakti solar microfinance business was held up as a model during discussions on Lighting Africa and Lighting India; executives from Vestas and the CEO of Schneider Electric also former winners - were on numerous panels; and members of the various selection committees were ubiquitous. Kandeh Yumkella, Michael Liebreich, Dr Al Jaber, Adnan Amin and Dr Al-Hosany (left to right) Rio showed the world that the agenda set by Abu Dhabi six years ago with the creation of Masdar and reinforced a year later with the inauguration of the Zayed Future Energy Prize is now at the heart of the sustainability debate. I think Rio showed the world that the agenda set by Abu Dhabi six years ago with the creation of Masdar and reinforced a year later with the inauguration of the Zayed Future Energy Prize is now at the heart of the sustainability debate. By the time it comes to Rio+40, I have no doubt that agenda will be mainstream throughout business, finance and policymaking. Zayed Future Energy Prize at RIO +20 The Zayed Future Energy Prize utilized the Earth Summit to raise awareness about the Prize through a multifaceted approach that included a stand at the UAE pavilion, a daily presentation and an active engagement for all visitors with the Prize administration. Moreover, with the ever increasing importance of implementing a synergetic approach to the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, The Zayed Future Energy Prize held a panel discussion at RIO+20 to discuss ways to expedite solutions. The Panel, moderated by the Prize Director Dr. Nawal Al Hosany took place on June 20th at the UAE Pavilion. Speakers of the panel included previous winners of the prize: Winner of the 2012 NGO/SME category Carbon Disclosure Project, represented by its CEO Paul Simpson, Winner of the 2012 Large Corporation category Schneider Electric represented by its President in Brazil Tania Cosentino and Winner of the 2011 Large Corporation category, Vestas, represented by its General Manager in Brazil, Miguel Picardo. The group discussed various facets of the renewable energy/ energy efficiency debate including the Sustainable Energy for All targets, the accuracy of measures to invest in energy efficiency and the viability of integrating demand side energy efficiency into energy access and renewable energy. The speakers also addressed some key policy issues including how to ensure that energy efficiency is positioned on the global energy access, energy security and carbon reduction strategies and agendas. 1. Bader Al Lamki, Adnan Amin and Dr Thani Al-Zeyoudi (left to right) 2. Zayed Future Energy Prize panel and the UAE Pavilion 3. The UAE Pavilion 4. ZFEP interacting with the media. 5. Daily Zayed Future Energy Prize Presentation 6. Sama Al-Naib, Prize Secretariat Member with a visitor from the African Pavilion Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Director General of Zayed Future Energy Prize, during the signing ceremony Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber Director General of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Chief Executive Officer of Masdar and UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change HE Lee Myung-bak, the President of South Korea, with Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Director General of Zayed Future Energy Prize Dr. Al Jaber directed the overall participation of the UAE delegation to RIO+20. In his various remits, Dr. Al Jaber participated at the principles meeting of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All.(SE4ALL). Dr Al Jaber also attended a signing ceremony for the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). The purpose of the Signing Ceremony was to prepare the legal framework for GGGI’s conversion into an international organization. The signatories will become the founding members of GGGI when it launches as a new international organization on the occasion of the pre-COP Ministerial Meeting in October, this year. Chairman of Bank of America, Chad Holliday; President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma; United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon; Minister of Mines and Energy of Brazil, Edison Lobão; Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar; Director-General of UNIDO, Kandeh Yumkella (left to right) As part of its memorandum of understanding with the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Institute has established its regional (MENA) office in Masdar City and has conducted various joint capacity building programs. Meanwhile, one of the most notable announcements made at RIO+20, took place at a reception, honoring the UN Secretary General for his Sustainable Energy For All initiative, where Dr. Al Jaber presented the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW). The reception was attended by various ministers, heads of states and business leaders including Secretary General Ban Ki-moon; President of the Republic of South Africa, Jakob Zuma; the Minister of Energy of the Republic of South Africa and Zayed Future Energy Prize Jury member, Dipuo Peters; the Minister of Mines and Energy of Brazil, Edison Lobão And many more. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Director General of Zayed Future Energy Prize,greets President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma Dr Nawal Al-Hosany, Director of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Director of Sustainability, Masdar Members from civil society, including private sector, NGOs, scientific community, among other major groups engaged in an open and action-oriented debate on 10 key topics related to sustainable development at the Sustainable Cities and Innovation Panel in the Sustainable Development Dialogue. Selected as rapporteur to the panel’s High Level Round table, Dr Al Hosany briefed heads of states and government on the dialogues outcomes which included Promoting the use of waste as a renewable energy source in urban environments and planning in advance for sustainability and quality of life in cities. The Dialogue findings also urged that each head of state should identify a sustainable city to develop a network for knowledge sharing and innovation and that governments should channel resources to develop people-centered sustainable cities with timed and measurable goals, in such way that empowers local communities, promotes equality and accountability. She was also a speaker at the Summit’s primary online platform, Rio+Social and attended the Sustainable Energy for All High activities. Dr Al-Hosany also engaged on a daily basis with the visitors of the UAE Pavilion in order to raise awareness of the Prize. HE Minister Peters greeted at the UAE Pavilion by Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi and other members of the UAE Delegation Ms. Dipuo Peters South Africa Minister of Energy Zayed Future Energy Prize Jury member As a member of a high level delegation from South Africa, led by its President HE Jacob Zuma, Her Excellency Dipuo Peters participated in various platforms as a speaker including the IRENA Global Atlas event – Mapping the world’s renewable energy resources and the IRENA side event: Renewing Africa’s Energy Future. Her Excellency also participated in the Accelerating clean and sustainable energy access for all in Africa panel and made several visits to the Zayed Future Energy Prize stand at the UAE Pavilion in RIO. Adnan Z. Amin Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Zayed Future Energy Prize Jury Member The International Renewable Energy Agency hosted two sideevents in Rio+20. The first was a side event on the Global Atlas for Wind and Solar Energies was held on 19 June. Close to 100 people participated in the event and several speakers hailed this initiative launched jointly by IRENA and the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). The second, co-hosted with the Government of Mozambique, on 20 June was entitled “Renewing Africa’s Energy Future”. This brought together more than 375 policymakers, including ministerial level representatives from countries across Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil. A high-level panel discussion was moderated by the DirectorGeneral and included participation by Ministers from Brazil, Mozambique, South Africa, Morocco, and Cape Verde. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Head of UAE Delegation, also addressed the event. Adnan Amin and the HE Minister Peters at High Level Panel Discussion The Director-General was also involved in a number of other events hosted by various countries including Brazil, Germany, South Africa, and Morocco. Mr. Amin gave a keynote address at a side-event on the 21 June organised by Eletrobras, Brazil’s leading public utility, on “Electricity and Sustainability – a global outlook”. In his remarks, the Director-General highlighted that developing countries could greatly benefit from Brazil’s experience with the deployment of renewable energy. The Director-General also announced the first funding cycle (USD 50 million) from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development on the 22 June. The announcement took place during a Masdar hosted reception honoring UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Rio+20 Conference. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development pledged USD350 million in 2009 as part of the United Arab Emirates bid to host the Agency, and is aimed at supporting and strengthening the mission of IRENA to promote the widespread and increased adoption and the sustainable use of renewable energy. As a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL), the Director-General took part in various SE4ALL events held in the margins of the Rio+20 Conference, including facilitating a high-level session entitled “Sustainable Energy is Powering People and Innovation”, and speakers included H. E. Mr. Baburam Bhattarai, Prime Minister of Nepal; H.E. Mr. Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Mr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Managing Director, World Bank Group; and Ms. Leena Srivastava, Executive Director, The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI). The Director-General also announced the first funding cycle (USD 50 million) from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development on the 22 June. Bader Al Lamki Director, Masdar Vice-Chairman of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Selection Committee Bader Al Lamki was instrumental in demonstrating the UAE’s commitment to sustainable development throughout his participation. Most notably, Al Lamki participated in the UAE Official Side Event: “Black Gold and Green Economy: Hydrocarbon Exporters Perspectives on Sustainability.” In partnership with the Kingdom of Norway, the side event drew on diverse views from the public and private sectors, and examined the sustainability rationale in hydrocarbon-exporting countries, as well as their role in the global transition to sustainable development. The event marked the summit’s only direct discussion of oil and gas in the Rio+20 agenda. The discussion included Dr. Rashid bin Fahad, UAE Minister of Environment, and Audun Garberg, Norwegian Undersecretary of the Environment, who made opening remarks and was moderated by Maria Figueres, president of the Carbon War Room and former president of Costa Rica. Panelists included: Phillipe Benoit, Head of Energy Efficiency and Environment, IEA Michael Liebreich, CEO, Bloomberg New Energy Finance Hege Marie Norheim, SVP of Climate, Statoil Samantha Smith, Global Head of Climate, World Wildlife Fund and Nejib Zaafrani, CEO, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy. Dr. Steven Griffiths Executive Director of Institute Initiatives and Professor Chemical Engineering at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology Member of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Selection Committee. Dr Griffit particpated in the official Brookings Side Event at RIO+20; Innovation in Green Growth Technology for Developing Countries. The Global Economy and Development team at Brookings, with the support of the Global Green Growth Institute have reviewed existing international green growth capacity-building activities around the world, with an eye toward understanding what type of international mechanism could stimulate R&D innovation in LDCs themselves. The panel discussion included an overview on the results of the study, including a listing of existing initiatives, a gap analysis, an options analysis, and finally a proposal for a new international architecture. Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi Director of the Directorate of Energy and Climate Change in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vice-Chairman of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Review Committee Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi coordinated the UAE’s overall participation in the recent Rio+20 Earth Summit which took place in June. In his role as Lead Coordinator of the UAE’s participation at Rio+20, he led a national task force representing almost 20 UAE entities at the national, local, and private-sector levels. Once on the ground in Rio, he also served as an official spokesperson for the UAE, speaking and attending numerous side events, receptions, discussions, UN Energy Day, etc... For example, he participated in the official side event of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, presenting the UAE’s perspective on a developing country’s approach to conceptualization and application of green growth strategies. The audience reacted positively on a number of the UAE’s efforts, notably the Eye on Earth initiative on the importance of access to data and information to inform sustainability policy and decision-making, as well as the importance of clean energy education. In addition, has also been actively engaged on Global Green Growth Institute, GGGI, and attended the informal board meeting held alongside the Earth Summit in Rio. Schneider Electric 2012 Winner of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Large Corporation category The President and CEO of Schneider Electric and TOTAL debated innovation in sustainability on both sides of the energy equation: energy and resources efficiency on the one hand and access to energy on the other– during a panel organized by the UN Global Compact. Moreover, Schneider Electric hosted its own high level session, Fostering Access to energy – the Grameen-Schneider Electric Joint-Venture which included two keynote presentations by Professor Muhammad Yunus, and Founder of the Grameen Social business, and Jean-Pascal Tricoire, President & CEO of Schneider Electric , to share their views on access to energy and sustainability and celebrate the new partnership between their two organizations. On January 15, 2013, the Zayed Future Energy Prize will celebrate a milestone with its 5th awards ceremony. Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2012 Winner of the Zayed Future Energy Prize SME/NGO category During RIO+20, CDP hosted a variety of side events including as panel discussion on Transparency and Action in Green Economy: How cities and the private sector can work together to create change on the ground moderated by Paul Simpson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Carbon Disclosure Project (Moderator). Speakers included Andrew Steer, Special Envoy for Climate Change, World Bank, Lasse Gustavsson, Executive Director, WWF International, Robert Bradley, Climate Change Advisor at the UAE Directorate of Energy and Climate Change at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigel Topping, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), Carbon Disclosure Project and Paulo Ricardo Stark, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Siemens, Brazil. CDP also spoke at a range of events including the Sustainable Energy for All Energy Efficiency meeting, Emerging Best Practices in Corporate Water Disclosure and the Zayed Future Energy Prize side event, “Renewables vs. Energy Efficiency” panel. Thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders will gather in Abu Dhabi next year during ADSW. Events which will be held during ADSW include: the Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); the World Future Energy Summit (WFES); the International Renewable Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi (ADIREC); and the International Water Summit (IWS). On January 15, 2013, the Zayed Future Energy Prize will celebrate a milestone with its 5th awards ceremony; we look forward to welcoming you to our stand at the World Future Energy Summit and to sharing with you the list of our Winners during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. 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