‘Powering Sustainable Innovation’ will be the theme of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES 2012) set to begin tomorrow (January 16).

World leaders, international agencies, sustainability advocates, global heads of businesses and experts, academics and students interested in future energy technologies will gather at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) where it will be held.

Now in its fifth year, the World Future Energy Summit is the world’s foremost annual meeting committed to promoting advancement of future energy technologies, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and waste management by engaging political, business, finance, academic and industry leaders to drive innovation, business and investment opportunities in response to the growing need for sustainable energy.

WFES 2012 will stage both a high-level conference and exhibition, with companies from all over the world promoting their latest products and services, a statement from the event organisers said.

Over 26,000 attendees, including 3,000 delegates, 650 exhibiting companies and 20 national pavilions, will participate in the event.

The summit will open with a ‘Policy and Strategy Forum’, where leaders in government and global development organisations will put the future energy challenge in perspective, the statement said.

Keynote addresses for the opening ceremony will include speeches from Ban-ki Moon, secretary general, UN; Wen Jiabao, Premier, People’s Republic of China; Kim Hwang-sik, Prime Minister, South Korea, and Nassir Abdulaziz-Al-Nasser, president, United Nations General Assembly.

Ministerial panel sessions will be held with former heads of state, ministers and key advisors to governments on energy exchanging views on ‘Sustainable energy for all,’ ‘Action towards universal energy access’ and ‘The role of government institutions in accelerating the transition to a global clean energy economy.’

“As governments and policy-makers world over face a development dilemma, a multi-sector and multi-disciplinary approach to encouraging investment in innovations is critical to ensuring energy security,” said Naji El Haddad, exhibition director, WFES 2012. “As every year, WFES will approach the energy challenge in its entirety, emphasising all aspects from environment and technology to investment and trading.”

To ensure equitable balance on all issues associated with energy, sustainability and development, WFES has dedicated each day of the conference for a topic of global relevance, the statement said.

The second day will discuss “Business and Policy” while “Technology and Innovation” will take centre stage on the third day, it said.

Investment will be the theme of the final day with financial and business leaders debating on the opportunities and innovation gaps in ‘Finance and Regulation’ relating to the business of sustainability.

For the second year in a row, Project Village, hosting select projects in renewable energy and energy efficiency from the Middle East, India and Africa, will form a significant component of WFES, it said.

The summit will also host the Young Future Energy Leaders (YFEL) programme, an initiative organised in partnership with Masdar Institute, to provide an opportunity for the next line of talent in sustainability technology to interact with government representatives and business leaders involved in clean energy initiatives.

A new development in 2012 is the Innovate@WFES zone, an original incubator concept dedicating free exhibition space to select small and medium-sized businesses working across the future energy value chain, the statement said.

A series of high-level meetings are scheduled to take place alongside the summit, discussing key policies and programs within the renewable energy and environment sphere by industry associations, non-governmental organisations and companies, it said.

WFES is held under the patronage of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and hosted by Masdar. – TradeArabia News Service