Lesson’s from YPO’s event last week.

H.E. Razan Al Mubarak ‘s keynote indicated that we are off-track in achieving the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement so COP28 UAE is a key event for us to catch up and “catch up, we must”.

With demand for travels exceeding pre-pandemic level, H.E. Helal Saeed Al Marri of Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism places importance on mindset change including those visiting the UAE.

An interesting discourse between industry leaders:
Ahmed Galal Ismail - CEO, Majid Al Futtaim
Khaled Al Huraimel - Group CEO, BEEAH Group (a company I use religiously for all my recycling needs)
Riad Bsaibes - President and CEO, Amana Investments
And promising anecdotes from Sandeep Walia Walia, COO Marriott International Middle East highlighting how small changes can make a big impact, citing an example of how by just setting up an in-house water bottling facility for the 3 hotels at Mina Seyahi, Marriott saves 1.5 million plastic bottles annually.

Touching on the need for Government legislation and subsidies in energy transition in a panel discussion with:

Anisha Ramakrishnan - Director, Transworld Group of Companies
David Auriau Board member, SirajPower and co-founder & CEO, Creek Capital Limited
Rory McCarthy - Partner, Yellow Door Energy
Samaila Zubairu Zubairu, CEO & President, Africa Finance Corporation

Insights from experts in food systems as it plays a pivotal role in addressing the climate crisis.

Bader Ataya - Co-founder, Kitopi
Edward Hamod - Founder and CEO, Switch Foods
Sky Kurtz Kurtz - CEO, Pure Harvest Smart Farms
Sean Dennis - Co-Founder, Seafood Souq

And opening the session on Technological Innovations, Philip Bahoshy - Founder and CEO, MAGNiTT shared some powerful data citing 5% of total VC funding in climate tech which is 11x growth in the past 5 years with UAE leading the way.

To round it all off, a panel with tech leaders and investors:

Ahmad Ali Alwan - Deputy CEO, Hub71
Najla Al-Midfa - CEO, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa)
Sami Khoreibi - CEO, Incubayt Investments
Tushar Singhvi - Deputy CEO, Crescent Enterprises

Najla Al Midfa shared some key initiatives of Sheraa in funding the right start-ups and innovations such as Palmade Biodegradable Cutlery and others culminating to 52% women founded start-ups. 👏🏼

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