Expo 2020 Dubai: Spotlight on climate change in first week

Dubai - Mega event will provide a powerful platform for people’s voices to be heard in policy circles.

Expo 2020 Dubai is all set to kick off its programme that will inspire the world to make a change — and its first themed week will turn the spotlight on climate and biodiversity.

From October 3 to 9, Expo will be bringing countries together to generate new ideas, inspire different perspectives and build a clear roadmap towards immediate action.

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The mega event’s Climate and Biodiversity Week falls a month ahead of United Nations’ vital Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

Recognising that the world is at a crucial moment when the global community must take decisive and collective steps to protect the planet, Expo 2020 will provide a powerful platform for people’s voices to be heard in policy circles.

Events and discussions during the week will focus on mitigating climate change, disaster risk management, advancing the circular economy, protecting vulnerable regions and conservation.

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Key speakers include the internationally recognised leader on global climate change Christiana Figueres; co-chair of UN Energy Damilola Ogunbiyi; filmmaker and climber Jake Norton; and Eden Project founder Sir Tim Smit, as well as environment ministers from around the world.

Nadia Verjee, chief of staff of the Programme for People and Planet, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “We are confident that by bringing together people, policy-makers, NGOs and business leaders from 192 countries for Climate and Biodiversity Week, we can inspire the world to take positive steps towards a more sustainable future. We have the opportunity to take our place in history as the generation who stopped climate change.”

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Flagship event

Co-curated with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE), DP World, and the UK, Climate and Biodiversity Week’s flagship event — The People’s Promise for Climate Impact — takes place October 3-4. It aims to catalyse youth-led action across the globe, inspiring and empowering people to play an active role in tackling climate change.

A week of dedicated events

>> Expo 2020’s World Majlis series — bringing together voices from all over the world to imagine a brighter future for our planet — will host four sessions.

>> The Climate and Biodiversity Business Forum — which will held at Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo 2020 Dubai, on October 4, and co-curated with Dubai Chamber and Estonia — will highlight business opportunities and cutting-edge technologies while providing showcasing progress in sustainability achieved by the UAE, participating countries and Expo partners.

>> The Women’s Pavilion on October 4 will host an inspiring session on Women Leading the Fight to Save our Planet, focusing on the disproportionate impact of climate change on women, and how women can play a greater role in climate-related decision-making.

>> Advancing Best Practice for Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation (October 6) — co-curated with DP World, Mozambique and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) — will highlight effective, replicable and scalable interventions and solutions to protect global biodiversity.

Visitor journeys

All visitors to Expo can further explore the issues with two climate- and biodiversity-related visitor journeys available on the Expo 2020 app. The People for Planet journey introduces visitors to the different ways countries and organisations are responding to key environmental issues we face as a global community, while the Waste Warriors journey explores the innovations leading the movement against overconsumption and overproduction.

• Dubai