H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar

Dubai, UAE: According to a press communiqué issued by Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of the company, has been chosen by the United Nations Environment to become the special advisor on District Cooling within its ‘Global District Energy in Cities Initiative’.

The initiative, the communiqué revealed, aims at supporting governments in developing and scaling up District Energy systems to reduce CO₂ emissions. The initiative, the communiqué informed, brings together cities, academia, technology providers and financial institutions in a joint ambition to share knowledge and the best practices in this field. The initiative, it added, has become one of the cornerstones of the UN Secretary General’s ‘Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL)’ effort and is recognised as being instrumental to achieving SE4ALL’s energy efficiency goal.

As special advisor, Bin Shafar, the communiqué highlighted, will contribute to the UN Environment and the initiative in many ways, such as advising on strategic direction of the initiative; providing counsel to governments, developers, utilities, consumers, and financial institutions on District Cooling policy, finance, and business models, through occasional country missions and workshops; providing visibility and high-level advocacy for the initiative and its District Cooling objectives and promoting the initiative and mobilising support from new countries, cities, and other partners.

“It is a matter of great pride and honour that UN Environment has invited me to act as their special advisor in the ‘global district energy in cities initiative,” said Bin Shafar. “This reflects the role that Empower and in a wider scale Dubai and the UAE plays in promoting, supporting and implementing energy-efficient and green solutions and projects.”

He added: “Dubai was selected previously by UN Environment as a “Business Model of District Cooling to Developing Cities”. Empower has also been duly participating, as a prominent UAE company, in several global environmental events like COP21 in Paris, where our leaders’ vision and country’s experience have been exposed to the international community.”