Top delegates tackle future energy

Senior figures from the oil and gas industries gather in Dubai to discuss the future of the region's energy supplies.

Senior figures from the oil and gas industries gathered in Dubai today to discuss the future of the region's energy supplies. The event, Offshore Arabia, an international conference and exhibition organised by the Regional Cleans Seas Organisation (RECSO), attracted delegates from large oil companies such as Saudi Aramco, as well as international bodies such as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and government officials from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE.

The three-day event is looking beyond fossil fuels into renewable energy and environmental challenges such as climate change and marine pollution. Experts from the United Nations Environment Programme, the Kuwait-based, Regional Organisation for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are attending to give the oil industry their perspective on how the world should be tackling the energy challenge.

Walter Erdelen, assistant director general for natural sciences at UNESCO said: "The Arab Nations of the Gulf have changed a lot. Environmental catastrophic events have hit the waters of the Gulf a number of times over the last two decades, and in the same time a lot of good has been done, with the establishment of university facilities dealing with environment and energy questions, environmental agencies and ministries being established, and some very impressive research projects being carried out."

"However, a lot more can and should be done, and I believe the region has the capacity to become a world leader in renewable energy development and production." [e-mail]