Energy Transition: Economic and Environmental Opportunities for the Arab World

In the wake of the COP21 and several months before the COP22, which was held on 7–18 November in Marrakech, energy transition appears to be, more than ever, the main lever in the fight against climate change.

The necessary change in the ways that energy is produced and used in transportation, buildings, and industry will provide many opportunities for Arab and European companies.

In the context of low oil prices, which complicates the economic equation, the speakers explained how the wealth of renewable energies and the rapid urbanisation of the Arab world could foster the energy transition.

Opening speeches 

• Jack Lang, President of the Arab World Institute (Institut du Monde Arabe)
• Ségolène Royal, President of the COP21 and French Minister of the Environment, Energy, and the Sea, responsible for International Climate Relations
• Salaheddine Mezouar, President of the COP22 Steering Committee and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco

Round table 

• Shermine Dajani, CEO of PanMed Energy (Jordan)
• Roberto de Diego Arozamena, CEO of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy & Environmental Services (United Arab Emirates)
• Adil Khamis, Strategy and Business Development Director, Nareva (Morocco)
• Paddy Padmanathan, CEO of Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
• François-Xavier Perin, President of the Directory of RATP Dev (France)

Debate chaired by Dominique Pialot, journalist for La Tribune (a weekly financial newspaper)

5 thematic workshops in partnership with Veolia 

• Rethinking sustainable growth, chaired by Hélène Lebedeff, Deputy Director for Sustainable Development at Veolia Environnement, and Julien Colas, Manager of the Energy and Climate Division of Entreprises pour l'Environnement (Companies for the Environment)
• Mobilising new forms of energy, chaired by Jean Ballandras, Renewable Energy Unifier, and Ryadh Boudjemadi, North Africa Director, EDF
• Constructing the sustainable city: mobility and the environment, chaired by Rima Tarabay, President of Ecotown, Doctor of Geography and a specialist in sustainable development and the environment, and Emmanuel Tremouille, International Business Development Manager of Urban and City projects at Egis
• Political and economic actors working together for the climate and growth, chaired by Marie-Hélène Aubert, General Inspector of the Administration of Sustainable Development, and Claire Tutenuit, General Delegate at Entreprises pour l'Environnement (Companies for the Environment)
• Investing to promote growth and the climate, in partnership with the firm Gide, chaired by John D. Crothers, Associate Lawyer with a specialisation in Projects (Finance & Infrastructures) at Gide, and Pierre Ducret, Special Advisor for Climate Change at the Caisse des Dépôts Group and President of I4CE (Institut pour l'Economie du Climat: the Institute for Climate Economics)

The Arab World Institute (Institut du Monde Arabe) would like to thank the Economic Forum’s partners

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