International Water Summit

On January 18, 2012, His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, launched the International Water Summit as part of a far reaching sustainability vision aimed at ensuring the prosperity and welfare of mankind – not only in the United Arab Emirates, but across the world.

His statement, “water is more important than oil for the UAE” was a bold and clear signal that an economy based on oil is placing water at the top of its agenda.

The inaugural International Water Summit will be hosted by Masdar and co-located with the World Future Energy Summit at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), United Arab Emirates. The first International Water Summit will gather the leading minds from the global water community in policy, business and science to accelerate the development of sustainable water solutions for arid regions. This high-level platform offers you a unique opportunity to network with global politicians, water experts and leaders from the public and private sectors over three possibility-laden days.

As a natural extension of the UAE’s commitment to sustainability, the first International Water Summit will be co-located with next year’s World Future Energy Summit, bringing to life the nexus between mankind’s two most vital resources: water and energy.

Managing the energy footprint of water — and the water footprint of energy is a two-pronged challenge. Water and energy have a symbiotic relationship. This simple truth becomes increasingly evident as demand for both resources rises. With this in mind, Water-Energy Nexus was introduced.

The nexus between water and energy is something world leaders are increasingly moving to the top of their agenda.

Both industries are finding innovative ways to thrive in the 21st century.

WFES featuring a new co-location of the International Water Summit to be launched this year will see an integration of the water-energy nexus into the summit and the exhibition as a focus topic which will allow great minds, strategists and practitioners from both the water and energy industries to bring the nexus to life.

IWS includes a Summit, an International exhibition and the Project Stream.

The Summit will take place over three days from 15 - 17 January, 2013:

Co-located with WFES in 2013 and part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

15th January – Global Leaders Summit

• Joint Opening Ceremony with WFES
• Main theme: Bringing Water Energy Nexus to Life
• Main KN speakers: Heads of State, PM, Royalties

15th January - Ministerial High Level Panels

• Joint sessions with ADIREC/WFES
• Main theme: TBA
• Main speakers: Ministers, NGOs

16th & 17th January - Expert Water Conference

• Main focus: Business and Technology
• Main theme: Promoting Water Sustainability in Arid Regions: Turning talk into action
• Main speakers: CEO’s, Experts, Specialist, Academics

15th, 16th & 17th January – International Exhibition

• Main focus: Water technologies and services for Municipal, Commercial, Industrial and Agricultural use.
• Water Energy Nexus section – joint with WFES
• Project Stream
• Water Food Nexus Village 
• UAE SME Pavilion