Strategic Priorities - ADSW Navigator

Our strategic priorities serve as the guiding compass to navigate the complex challenges that climate change poses. They break down the seemingly insurmountable issue of climate change into manageable, actionable components.

At the heart of strategic priorities lies the formulation of a vision, mission, and goals to propel us toward innovation and sustainable solutions while fostering inclusivity and resilience in the face of climate emergencies. They link policy, funding, and partnerships. They pave the way for transformative change and delineate the roadmap to achieve sustainable economies by leveraging innovative solutions.

The strategic priorities—enabling technologies, energy transition, and sustainable development—serve as guiding principles that steer enterprises towards aligning their efforts with broader societal and environmental goals, setting the stage for impactful and scalable initiatives.

Enabling Technologies

‘Enabling technologies’ are defined as an invention or innovation that can drive radical change characterised by rapid development, and lead to other innovations and transformations - in this case for the use in achieving net-zero emissions goals and sustainable economic development.

"30 million people are projected to be employed in solar energy and a further 11.7 million in wind energy by 2030”

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) 2020 Report

Investment is the driving force behind achieving net-zero emissions. It delivers the existing and new solutions that support environmental goals - crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero - and encourages sustainable economic growth. Government policies and political will are essential instruments in driving innovation related to sustainable economic development and cleaner energy transition. Governments worldwide have made a strategic priority to invest in and promote the development of enabling technologies and implementing net-zero emission technologies such as electricity storage, carbon capture, and hydrogen to ensure that progress is environmentally responsible.

Investing in and promoting business development through enabling technologies requires a collaborative approach between leaders from governments, the private sector, research institutions, and civil society to achieve ambitious targets, enable commercial viability and efficient implementation.

By creating a multi-stakeholder platform, ADSW provides an opportunity to learn and share knowledge and innovative solutions and foster trust in emerging technologies. Learning from past failures and sharing best practices mitigates risk and accelerates widespread adoption.

Leveraging the experience of UAE’s existing smart city infrastructure in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Masdar City, along with its extensive expertise in upstream energy presents a unique opportunity to foster capacity building focused on climate and city data infrastructure.

Energy Transition

Net zero is now an organising principle for government and business around the world. To meet the Paris agreement's 1.5°C global warming threshold, renewable energy must significantly fulfil the world's electricity demand by the end of the decade. To achieve this, we also need to achieve SDG 7 and ensure everyone has access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy by 2030. This will support climate action and deliver a fair and equitable energy transition because energy drives everything.

“We should look for solutions where the energy expertise exists and always remember that our goal is to hold back emissions, not progress.”

H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Chairman of Masdar in the UAE

Sustainable Development

We are at a tipping point in fighting climate change when the growing demand for food, water and energy makes sustainable development an economic, social and environmental imperative for businesses, but balancing customer demands for sustainability and shareholder profit is challenging.

"Companies should be thinking about whether they've identified the material environment, social, and guidance issues that are important to their industry."

Robert Eccles Professor of management practice at the University of Oxford's Said Business School.