Statement of Ahmad Bin Shafar CEO, Empower On the occasion of the ‘World Energy Day'

Every year, we celebrate the 'World Energy Day' on the 22nd day of October, as mandated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during the World Energy Forum that was held in Dubai in 2012. This day serves as an occasion to inspire us to exert more efforts in the move to make our communities more aware of the importance of rationalizing energy consumption; reducing our carbon footprint and mitigating its harmful effects; understanding the significance of renewable and clean energy sources; increasing and supporting efforts to achieve sustainable development and to drive in a successful transformation to a green economy. 

In line with this, Empower remains steadfast in its commitment to support the unified move to implement the vision of the country's wise leadership to create a balance between development and the environment, which in turn, will ensure the achievement of a sustainable future for us and for future generations. Our dedication to these efforts fall in line with UAE Vision 2021, which is aimed towards positioning the UAE as one of the best countries in the fields of energy and sustainability by 2021; and also with the goals and objectives set in Dubai Plan 2021, which looks towards making the emirate a smart, integrated, connected, and sustainable city having a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

Empower places key focus on the promotion of sustainability among community members, which is widely seen in our continuous efforts to encourage the adoption of a culture of energy consumption rationalization. We are looking to succeed in these endeavors through the implementation of strategic plans and programs that have been developed specifically to improve and enhance the quality of our environment -all in support of Dubai's sustainable development plans, which aims to provide seven per cent of the emirate's energy requirements via clean energy sources by 2020; increasing this to 25 per cent in 2030 and by 75 per cent in 2050.