ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Monday, January 10th 2011 [ME NewsWire]:
· Secretary of State wants the world to know how advanced and committed Abu Dhabi is to innovations of clean, renewable energy
· Secretary Clinton says, “UAE is positioning itself to be a center for innovation and entrepreneurship for years to come.”
The Secretary of State of the United States of America, Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton today delivered a speech at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology campus – the Middle East’s first graduate research institution dedicated to innovations in clean energy located at Masdar City – affirming the strong relationship between the US and the United Arab Emirates. Secretary Clinton also commended Masdar’s ambition and commitment to advancing and commercializing innovations in renewable energy and clean technology.
In her address, Secretary Clinton, said: “UAE is so well positioned to compete in the 21st century because of your commitment to clean, renewable energy. We are fully committed to supporting your work and we will do everything we can through our academic institutions, like MIT, through our government, like the Department of Energy and the State Department, and through our private sector, to bring more jobs and to bring more innovative entrepreneurial spirit here to the UAE.
“I want my country to know how advanced you are in pursuing clean renewable energy,” Secretary Clinton added. “I want the world to know that the US is partnering with you because we are betting on Abu Dhabi and the UAE. We are betting that this incredible investment represented by Masdar is going to pay off, and when it pays off it will not only mean a better life for the people of this country and this region, it will have ripple effects throughout the world.”
Following a guided tour of the facilities at Masdar City, Secretary Clinton was officially welcomed by Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO and Managing Director of Masdar, the Abu Dhabi based company focused on the development and deployment of sustainable energy solutions.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: “We are privileged and honored to welcome Secretary Clinton to Abu Dhabi and Masdar. Cooperation between our nations is built on mutual trust, respect and friendship. We look forward to further strengthening our relationship by working together to address the challenges of delivering viable, scalable clean energy to the world.
“Secretary Clinton’s visit to Masdar is a testament to the strength of this relationship and our leadership’s commitment to the development of renewable energy and climate change mitigation,” Dr. Al Jaber added.
During the tour of Masdar City, Secretary Clinton was able to see firsthand the innovations, progress and momentum building at Masdar, made possible by global collaboration. One such example was Secretary Clinton’s visit to Masdar’s advanced concentrated solar power (CSP) “Solar Beam Down” project, a joint venture between Masdar, Cosmo-Oil of Japan and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The innovative “beam down” technology is an example of the global collaborative research conducted at Masdar.
Visiting the Masdar Institute campus, a graduate level institution established in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Secretary Clinton was also shown the sustainable facilities that have been designed to improve both the living and working experience of the students and faculty through smart, energy efficient and high performance building design.
“I express my gratitude to the people of the UAE for being innovative, creative and at the same time very practical about how you intend to achieve your goals,” Secretary Clinton said. “We are proud to be your partner and we are looking forward to achieving real progress for your citizens and the world at large.”
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber recognised the significance of Secretary Clinton’s visit, particularly as Abu Dhabi prepares to host the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) next week. WFES is a global platform for open dialogue between political and industry leaders, international policy makers, investors and experts from across the renewable energy and clean technology sector. Wide ranging global collaboration lies at the heart of Masdar’s business model, and the visit by Secretary Clinton further enhances the ongoing cooperation between the UAE and the US.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs worked closely with Masdar on initiating the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) process. This bilateral preparation effort began on 26 April, 2010, when the DOE and Masdar signed a Memorandum of Understanding on clean energy cooperation. The UAE served as host to the first CEM Preparatory Meeting in Abu Dhabi on 28-29 June, 2010. Having brought together officials from the participating countries, this meeting provided an invaluable forum for productive multilateral dialogue on the transformative policy and program initiatives that were publically announced at the Ministerial in Washington, D.C. The second Clean Energy Ministerial will be held 6-7 April, 2011, in the United Arab Emirates.
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About Masdar
Masdar is Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions. The company serves as a link between today’s fossil fuel economy and the energy economy of the future - developing the “greenprint” for how we will live and work tomorrow. Backed by the stability and reputation of the Mubadala Development Company, an investment vehicle of the government of Abu Dhabi, Masdar is dedicated to the emirate’s long-term vision for the future of energy.
For more information about the Masdar Initiative, please visit: www.masdar.ae
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speech:
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton address at Masdar, 10 January 2011
Good afternoon, it is such a pleasure for me to be here, I want to thank Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Special Envoy for Climate Change, UAE and the CEO of Masdar. And Adnan Amin, the new interim Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, known as IRENA, which will have its permanent headquarters here in Masdar City. And Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, the president of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and a professor from MIT.
This is a very exciting and important visit for me personally, and I thank His Excellency for those kind words, but the partnership that we have established between the United States and Abu Dhabi around renewable energy and climate change and sustainable development that takes advantage of human capital is one of the most important partnerships for the future that we could be pursuing.
We have a special connection with the Institute because of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of our nation’s top universities and because of the Department of Energy. We believe that the work being done here at Masdar has the potential to solve some of the most urgent challenges facing our planet.
How do we develop sustainable energy sources that can power our cities without contributing to climate change? How do we create technologies that are scalable and both use less power and are widely affordable? How do we supply water for drinking and farming in places where fresh water sources are decreasing? How do we achieve economic growth without relying so heavily on fossil fuels, where they are drilling for them, selling them, buying them or burning them?
Now these challenges are pressing across the world, but they are especially significant here in the Gulf. We know that oil supplies are shrinking, water tables decline. The old strategies for growth and prosperity and growth will no longer work. For too many people in too many places, the status quo today is unsustainable and the UAE is leading our work and the path we must take into the future. It is putting into practice what it means to be sustainable and laying the groundwork for economic, environmental and social progress. What I admire about the steps that the UAE has taken is that it’s not only this Institute – which is very impressive just to be part of and to view - but it’s also working while continuing your role as a leading oil producer, investing in renewable energy sources like wind and solar, and moving toward a knowledge-based economy by investing in education as I saw this morning at Zayed University. UAE is positioning itself to be a center for innovation and entrepreneurship for years to come.
Now I would imagine that many other countries are going to be looking to you to learn how to do this. You will have the model that will demonstrate to others what it takes to achieve renewable energy and sustainable growth.
To the end, we look forward to the positive impact that IRENA will have. The United States applauds IRENA’s goal of accelerating the rapid development and deployment of renewable energy worldwide. We want to enhance energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, address energy poverty, support sustainable development and boost economic growth worldwide.
And we congratulate Abu Dhabi on hosting IRENA. This is the first truly international organization to be headquartered in the Middle East and we have high hopes that it will provide a link between developed and developing countries in sustainable energy production. And we want it to be a truly global organization open to representative offices, here in the UAE, to every country willing to abide by its principles, and commit to its good, to translate good intentions into concrete results.
I am very pleased the United States and the UAE have deepened our partnership on energy in recent months. Masdar and the US Department of Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding last year to promote joint research and development of clean energy technologies. Our two countries, along with nearly two dozen others, held our first ever high-level ministerial meeting on clean energy last June in Washington and Abu Dhabi will host the second meeting here in April. And in a week, US public and private sector representatives will join people around the world here in Abu Dhabi at the World Future Energy Summit.
This work is in the interest of not only global progress, but also our own domestic interests as well. Because clean energy will be a driver for good jobs. I know that there are many talented people here in the UAE, and giving scientists and engineers and technicians the opportunity to participate in the clean energy revolution will bring good jobs to the UAE, more income and a greater ability to create and spin off businesses.
UAE is so well positioned to compete in the 21st century because of your commitment to clean, renewable energy. We are fully committed to supporting your work and we will do everything we can through our academic institutions, like MIT, through our government, like the Department of Energy and the State Department, and through our private sector, to bring more jobs and to bring more innovative entrepreneurial spirit here to the UAE.
There is so much that we can do together. And I would add that part of the reason for my trip is not only to meet with leaders, as I have had the chance to do, but also to talk with the citizens of this country, as I did earlier at the Town Hall but also to highlight the very creative effort that are being taken here in Abu Dhabi.
I want my country to know how advanced you are in pursuing clean renewable energy. I want the world to know that the US is partnering with you because we are betting on Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
We are betting that this incredible investment represented by Masdar is going to pay off. And when it pays off, it will not only mean a better life for the people in this country and in this region, it will have ripple effects throughout the world. Now, one of our challenges is how do we raise the standard of living in poor countries. We cannot do it by recreating the past. We have to do it by leapfrogging into the future. And the technologies that you will pioneer here will enable a poor African or Asian or Latin American country to have a better future as well.
So I express our gratitude to the leadership and the people of the UAE for being visionary, innovative, creative, and at the same time, very practical about how you intend to achieve your goals. We are proud to be your partner and we are looking forward to achieving real progress for our citizens in both of our countries and for the world at large.
Thank you all very much.
For media enquiries, please contact:
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