Dubai Expo 2020 to be ‘greenest’ in event history
Managing director of Dubai World Expo 2020 Committee says sustainability strategies will extend beyond 2020
Dubai’s leaders and the Expo 2020 organising team are hoping their collaboration with international industry partners will result in the event being the ‘greenest Expo ever’, said Reem Al Hashimi, managing director of the Dubai World Expo 2020 Committee, highlighting the impact of the UAE’s energy strategies on the city’s successful Expo 2020 bid.
Speaking at the commencement of the World Green Economy Summit 2014 in Dubai earlier today, Al Hashimi said the UAE government will focus on sustainability as it advances with its future infrastructure and construction plans.
“The premise and promise to focus on sustainability is for the long-term in the UAE,” she said. “It has guided not only IRENA’s operations, but also Dubai’s campaign for the Expo 2020.
“One of the reasons our message resonated with the international community is because they recognised that energy – which is a key component for their development – cannot depend on traditional resources, and has to be sourced from renewable sources,” Al Hashimi continued.
Al Hashimi believes Dubai has the potential to host the world’s most sustainable expo in the event’s history. “We want to build an expo site and sustainability strategies that take us beyond 2020. Collaboration with our international partners and their technologies is key, as is learning from the traditional design and construction techniques that have worked for us in the past, such as wind-towers.
“It is critical that what we deliver in 2020 is sustainable, but the timeline preceding the delivery must carry the same message and legacy of sustainability and mobility that the Expo 2020 itself will. We hope to do this by building research institutions within the expo site which will keep the message alive and strong for generations to come,” Al Hashimi added.
Dubai, Al Hashimi explained, has convinced the international community of its ability to be a long-term partner for undertaking sustainability strategies due to its solid track record of green initiatives.
“We have a good track record here in the UAE and Dubai,” she explained. “We are home to the Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park, IRENA Headquarters and Masdar City in the UAE. Here, we actually do what we have promised, and sustainability is more than just a PR exercise.”
