UNEP special advisor & Empower CEO successfully concludes top-level meetings in India for ‘District Energy in Cities' global initiative

Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), the world’s largest district cooling services provider, represented by CEO Ahmad Bin Shafar, who is special advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on district cooling, successfully concluded key participation in a series of meetings and activities during the ‘District Energy in Cities’ initiative held in India.

Bin Shafar successfully met with top national government delegates in India including Mr. Gyanesh Bharti, Joint Secretary for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) –where he was able to share Dubai’s successful implementation of DCS and how it can help in implementing the same in Indian cities. He also met the Energy Efficiency Services Limited Managing Director Mr. Saurabh Kumar and other industry experts.

The Empower CEO, who had given the special remarks at the inaugural session, was also present at the session on ‘Global Experience Sharing on District Energy,’ where champion cities and operators of district energy presented the successful policies that helped in attracting investments to develop and operate the district energy projects in their cities. During his participation, Bin Shafar showcased Dubai as a role model city in implementing district cooling and its sustainable benefits.  

Bin Shafar spoke before international experts, utility industry leaders, bankers and finance experts, and top national government officials during the second day of his visit in India as part of his special advisory role with UNEP’s ‘District Energy in Cities’ initiative, which is aimed to propagate the use of district cooling systems (DCS) as an economically and environmentally effective air-conditioning technology, following the global call on scaling energy efficiency as a means to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

UNEP’s ‘District Energy in Cities’ initiative aims to scale energy efficiency worldwide, including the role of DCS to ensure more efficient energy and water consumption. District cooling is one of six energy efficiency accelerators under the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) initiative.

Dubai, which is being positioned as a role model for other cities to follow, will aim to reduce electricity and water consumption by about 30 per cent as part of the emirate’s commitment to clean energy, in line with the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The emirate is also bidding to become a global hub for the green economy with the least carbon footprint in the world by 2050.

Empower provides environmentally responsible district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments such as Jumeirah Group, Business Bay, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai International Financial Centre, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Ibn Battuta Mall, Discovery Gardens, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai World trade Centre Residences, Dubai Design District, among others.