ADIPEC 2024 has welcomed the wider community beyond the energy ecosystem to work multilaterally to accelerate innovation and collaboration and enable an energy transition that empowers lives and drives global prosperity.
As a global convening power and a catalyst for meaningful dialogue, ADIPEC amplifies diverse perspectives from the Global North and South, bringing together the world’s future energy leaders and prioritises diversity and inclusion to ensure no one is left behind and energy access and investment reach all corners of the globe.
With global energy demand expected to increase by nearly 50% by 2050, particularly in non-OECD countries like Asia and Africa, the new Voices of Tomorrow conference aimed to foster collaboration on solutions to address the critical energy trilemma - balancing equity, security, and sustainability.
Featuring four individual streams to tackle the most pertinent agendas supporting the UAE Consensus, topics included bridging the gap between the Global North and the Global South, strengthening global alliances through intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, ensuring equal representation from underrepresented groups, and fortifying the leaders of tomorrow.
In a session titled ‘Powering Africa’s energy system by catalysing in-country growth through local resources’, discussions centred around the opportunities for in-country growth within African nations and the crucial role of financing access and collaboration in unlocking this potential.
To overcome the hurdle of limited financing and investment in the Global South, governments, businesses, development banks, investors, and civil society must work together to create supportive policies and actions.
Speaking during the session, Mark Brownstein, Senior Vice President - Energy Transition, Environmental Defense Fund, said: “We’re about 150 years into the fossil fuel era, and yet there are still nearly a billion people that don’t have access to electricity.
"I view the energy transition as an opportunity to finally get it right. When we think about the array of technologies that are coming into the marketplace, such as solar, wind and green hydrogen for example, we can begin to think about the possibilities for the African continent and finally get to a place where everyone can have access to electricity and that it can be affordable.
“The best projects, in my view, are the ones that supply energy to the world but also create infrastructure that has tangible benefits for the local economy.
"In the US, for example, public policy has focused on hydrogen hubs, which is how to make hydrogen development a catalyst for reinvigorating the industrial base in a particular region. We need to bring that mindset when we think about financing energy infrastructure in Africa.”
Elsewhere, industry leaders from Lean In Energy, NEXTCHEM MAIRE, and Energy Institute convened to discuss how businesses are excelling in the advancement of gender parity in leadership to better drive innovation and problem-solving.
Speaking at the session, ‘Achieving gender parity in leadership roles at energy organisations’, Denise Mannix, Founder of Lean In Energy, said: “The future that we are working on now is based on innovation, and this innovation can only be done through diversity.”
Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and hosted by ADNOC, ADIPEC 2024 concludes today (7 November) with an estimated 184,000-plus attendees uniting across geographies and generations to achieve the necessary pace of change.