Greenpeace MENA To Contribute To World Future Energy Summit Dialogues On Energy Transition

Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will join the World Future Energy Summit 2026 in Abu Dhabi from 13 to 15 January, helping frame regional and global discussions on energy transition, climate resilience, and resource use, with particular relevance for Gulf economies and wider Middle East stakeholders.

Across the three days, Greenpeace MENA will contribute panel interventions, host specialist sessions, and run a dedicated Greenpeace MENA Cinema, linking design, land-use systems, and Islamic finance with practical routes for lowering emissions, strengthening food and energy security, and aligning investment flows with renewable energy deployment.

One major strand of Greenpeace MENA’s programme centres on waste prevention, with participation in the session ‘Designed Out Waste: Breaking the Throw-Away Mindset,’ which repositions waste as a design challenge rather than an unavoidable outcome, and calls for systems that support repair, reuse, and clear end-of-life planning for materials.

During this panel, speakers will discuss how product design choices influence lifetime emissions, material efficiency, and overall system resilience. The conversation will consider durability, modular components, and responsible material selection, alongside policy tools that encourage producers to plan for recycling and repurposing, supporting circular, low-carbon economies across MENA and other regions.

Greenpeace MENA will also lead a session on agrivoltaics, presenting it as a dual-use model that combines solar generation with agriculture, aiming to support food security, safeguard rural livelihoods, and deliver climate benefits when supported by suitable regulation, especially in dryland contexts across the Middle East and North Africa.

Through expert contributions and an interactive scenario, participants will explore how shared land-use frameworks can allocate benefits between farmers, energy developers, and communities. The session will highlight the importance of local ownership, fair revenue distribution, and policies that recognise both water constraints and cultural land practices in countries across the region.

On the Summit’s third day, Greenpeace MENA will address finance through the session "The $400 Billion Question: Where Islamic Finance Meets Renewable Energy," which will examine how Sharia-compliant financial instruments can mobilise climate capital at scale for renewable projects across the region, aligning investment criteria with sustainability outcomes.

Greenpeace MENA at World Future Energy Summit 2026: Islamic finance and energy transition

Throughout the World Future Energy Summit 2026 content agenda, Greenpeace MENA representatives will join high-level panels, offering evidence-based analysis on how upstream choices in product design, land allocation, and capital deployment affect emissions, resource efficiency, and long-term resilience, with emphasis on data, real project experience, and practical implementation pathways.

"World Future Energy Summit provides an important platform for bringing diverse perspectives into dialogue," said Ghiwa Nakat, Greenpeace MENA Executive Director. Nakat added, "As energy systems across the region continue to evolve, it is essential to look beyond capacity and scale, and consider how design choices, land use, and financial frameworks shape long-term outcomes. Our participation at WFES reflects our commitment to engaging constructively in these conversations by contributing verified findings and practices grounded in real-world experience."

Beyond conference rooms, Greenpeace MENA will operate a Greenpeace MENA Cinema on the exhibition floor, in partnership with the World Future Energy Summit, for all three days. The cinema will deliver a curated, headphone-based film experience that allows visitors to pause, reflect, and consider how stated sustainability goals translate into observable change on the ground.

"At World Future Energy Summit, we know that awareness doesn’t come from panels alone," said Sophia Sheikh, Content and Marketing Director, World Future Energy Summit. "That’s why we are creating multiple content formats across the event, from high-level debates to immersive, visual storytelling, including the Greenpeace Cinema, which offers visitors a moment to pause, reflect, and engage with sustainability narratives in a more personal and human way. "

Greenpeace MENA’s participation at WFES 2026 highlights the Summit’s function as a shared platform where governments, industry, financiers, and civil society from the Middle East and beyond examine concrete aspects of energy leadership, technology deployment, and future readiness, linking policy, investment and on-the-ground practice within a single regional conversation.

With inputs from WAM