World Future Energy Summit to be held in April 2021 in Abu Dhabi

The event will be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and will follow a new format

The World Future Energy Summit attracted more than 34,000 attendees from 125 countries in 2019. Antonie Robertson/The National

The World Future Energy Summit, a renewable energy conference which takes place annually in Abu Dhabi, will be held from April 5 to 7, 2021, the organisers said.

WFES, as the forum is more commonly known, usually takes place in January along with the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

But Abu Dhabi’s flagship sustainability week will be held online from January 18 to 21, 2021 as a precautionary measure amid the coronavirus pandemic.

WFES, which attracted more than 34,000 attendees from 125 countries last year, will be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and will bring together “stakeholders from government and private sectors, finance, technology providers, innovators, academics and industry leaders".

The new format of the event was developed following extensive consultation with key industry stakeholders and partners, the organisers said.

"The revised, multi-pronged format of the event will offer attendees the opportunity to conduct business and engage with industry colleagues through a platform of their choice: whether on the exhibition floor or in a virtual meeting space,” WFES group event director Grant Tuchten said.

The event is expected to showcase “thousands of innovations, technologies and present best practices for the future, supporting a more sustainable approach to a global economic recovery”, he added.

The challenges of climate change will be addressed at the forum, which will also look at efforts required to repair the economy and environment together.

Global emissions flatlined for the first time in 2019, as economies continued to transition from polluting fuels to cleaner power generation, the International Energy Agency said in February.

Emissions for 2019 remained unchanged at 33 gigatonnes even as the world economy expanded by 2.9 per cent, according to the Paris-based agency.

Earlier this year, Britain said it generated more power from renewable sources in 2019 than fossil fuels for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, following other European countries such as Germany.

The Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency said earlier this year that developing innovative renewable energy carriers and building zero-carbon supply chains is a $500 billion (Dh1.8 trillion) opportunity as economies continue to decarbonise.