As part of Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2023, Eng Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI), participated in the Future Leaders Conference.

The event brought energy industry leaders, investors, and academic experts, together with the next generation of leaders to establish their role as partners and enablers of the energy transition. Featuring in a session titled ‘Amplifying the Voice of Youth in the Energy transition: the Role of Policymakers’, Al Olama highlighted the UAE’s commitment to youth empowerment. He said: “The UAE offers an exceptional model of youth empowerment and engagement in the decision-making process. The UAE Founding Father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan once said, ‘A nation’s only true resource is its youth’. We follow in his footsteps and continue to equip our young men and women with the knowledge, skills, and tools they will need to thrive in the future.” Al Olama added: “The energy transition requires special talents to overcome challenges. We encourage our youth to pursue engineering, renewables, sustainability, AI, and digitalisation disciplines. This will give them the tools to become active contributors in achieving our vision of a sustainable future.” Moreover, He gave an overview of the National Water and Energy DSM Program that targets improving energy efficiency by 40 percent in four of the most energy-consuming sectors in the UAE: transport, industry, agriculture, and construction. He said: “Youth play a key role in achieving the objectives of the programme. We run multiple initiatives to raise their awareness and educate them at a young age to establish a culture that supports energy conservation and make sustainability a way of life.” Furthermore, Al Olama commended the International Youth Climate Delegate Programme as a shining example of empowering the young generation and engaging it in climate dialogue.

Launched by COP28 UAE Presidency, the programme is the largest initiative to expand youth participation in the international climate negotiation processes to date by providing robust capacity-building for 100 young delegates and fully funding them to attend the highly anticipated climate conference.