Following a memorandum of understanding signed with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), headquartered in Seoul, Korea, inaugurated its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) office in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City on July 7, 2011.

Attending the ceremony, held at the Shangri-La hotel in the capital was Dr. Han Seung-soo, former Prime Minister of Korea and Chairman of GGGI Board of Directors; and Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.

The ceremony also featured remarks by Dr. Cae One Kim, Chairman, National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Kwon Tae-Kyun, Ambassador of Republic of Korea to the UAE.

Dr. Al Jaber said: “This partnership with the GGGI is a natural progression for the UAE, which has placed a strategic focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency and green growth.

“We look at this partnership as a way to further pool resources to find solutions for the economic and environmental health of our collective future. This partnership between GGGI and the UAE will be a reciprocal, resource-sharing collaboration.”

GGGI seeks to establish green growth plan (GGP) analysis for the UAE and support the reduction of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. It aims to focus on developing and implementing specialized training programs to educate workers on the issues surrounding green growth. GGGI will work in close cooperation with the UAE to promote a green growth approach towards sustainable development.

The GGGI Abu Dhabi Office will also work closely with the National Climate Change Committee, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and the International Renewable Energy Agency to strengthen existing environmental initiatives.

GGGI Board Chair Dr. Han Seung-soo said: "The GGGI Abu Dhabi Office will serve as a platform for developing collaborative programs and activities that will catalyze the dissemination of green growth within the UAE in cooperation with relevant national agencies and stakeholders and across the entire Middle East and North Africa region."

Dr. Han added: "GGGI seeks to develop synergistic partnerships between UAE think tanks, businesses and Korean counterparts and other world-leading experts in the areas of energy, green technology and future growth engines."

Additionally, the GGGI Abu Dhabi Office is intended to serve as a regional hub in tackling issues such as climate change and economic development throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

GGGI will also take the initiative to develop tailor-made low carbon green growth models for oil rich and non-Annex I countries with the aim of meeting achievable greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in the future.

It has been announced that GGGI Deputy Executive Director Jung Tae-yong will act as Interim Director of the GGGI Abu Dhabi Office.

GGGI is dedicated to pioneering and diffusing a new paradigm of economic growth: green growth. The institute is a new kind of international organization driven by emerging and developing countries. Headquartered in Seoul, GGGI opened its first regional office in Copenhagen in May 2011. GGGI has also received financial support and encouragement from increasing number of partner countries including Denmark, the UAE, Australia and Japan.

GGGI Board Directors include: Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber; Nicholas Stern (London School of Economics, UK); Thomas C. Heller (Stanford University, USA); Montek S. Ahluwalia (Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, India); Nurgali Ashim (Minister of Environmental Protection, Kazakhstan); Lykke Friis (Minister for Climate and Energy and Minister for Gender Equality, Denmark); Noeleen Heyzer (Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific); Bharrat Jagdeo (President of Guyana); Abdoulie Janneh (Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa); Kim Sung-Hwan (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea); Kim Sang-hyup (Secretary to the President for Green Growth and Environment, Republic of Korea); Hiroshi Komiyama (Chairman, Mitsubishi Research Institute and President Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, Japan); Trevor Manuel (Minister in the Presidency, National Planning Commission, South Africa); Jeffery Sachs (Director, Earth Institute at Columbia University, USA); Izabella Teixeira (Minister of Environment, Brazil), and Richard Samans (Executive Director, GGGI).
 

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