This week on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany, UAE’s Permanent Representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), for a wide-ranging discussion on IRENA’s work promoting an equitable transition, the UAE’s emergence as a renewables superpower, and the significance of COP28 coming to the region later this year.

Links and Related Episodes: 

Learn more about the International Renewable Energy Agency and its work: https://www.irena.org/

Learn about IRENA and the UAE’s Beyond Food initiative: https://www.irena.org/News/pressreleases/2022/Mar/UAE-and-IRENA-Launch-New-Initiative-to-Provide-Access-to-Energy-for-Clean-Cooking

Dr. Nawal’s recent op-ed on the importance of climate education: https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2023/01/05/its-time-to-put-youth-at-the-top-of-the-climate-agenda/

Visit the UAE mission to IRENA’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@uaemissiontoirena

Watch Cleaning Up Episode 87 with Francesco La Camera: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep87-francesco-la-camera-the-economist-diplomat-championing-clean-energy/

Guest Bio

Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany is the Permanent Representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) as of April 2018. Previously, Dr. Al Hosany held the position of the Executive Director of Sustainability at Masdar, the international renewable energy leader based in Abu Dhabi. She also served as the Director of the Zayed Future Energy Prize for eight years between 2011-2018. Dr. Al-Hosany is an active member of various climate-focused boards and committees, including the advisory council of National Geographic magazine and the advisory Panel for the Momentum for Change initiative of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She is a board member of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and she serves as the Vice Chair for the Global Council of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at the UAE University in 1992 and obtained her PhD from Newcastle University in the UK in 2002. In July 2018, Dr. Al-Hosany was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Keele University in the UK in recognition for her achievements in the field of sustainability. Dr Al-Hosany has also received the “Arab Woman Award” and the “Emirates Business Women Award”.