COP26 a “fantastic achievement” Masdar CEO tells Forbes Middle East

The recent COP26 climate change conference was successful and represents a “fantastic achievement,” Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, told Forbes Middle East in an in-depth interview.

The conference, which concluded last month in Glasgow, Scotland, stands out from other COPs he had attended because people were ready to negotiate this time, Al Ramahi told Forbes ME. “I have attended several COPs, but the reality is now there is global consent that we do have an issue, and if this issue is not managed properly, all of us will suffer,” Al Ramahi said in the article. “That by itself is an achievement, a fantastic achievement to be honest.” 

The article highlights the positive impact that Masdar is making in the renewable energy sector, having tripled its generation capacity in the past three years, from around 4 gigawatts (GW) in 2018, to almost 14 GW today. 

“Our investments allow technologies to prove themselves and scale, which in turn makes them more competitive,” said Al Ramahi. “If we look to 2050, then wind and solar technologies, which are relatively mature and cost-effective, will capture the highest share in global power generation spend with predicted cumulative investments of a combined US$10 trillion. This compares to US$2 trillion in gas and US$500 billion in coal investments.” 

Al Ramahi has been with Masdar almost from the beginning, having joined in 2008 after a successful career in the oil & gas industry. “The objective and the mandate of this organization has been something unique from day one. Whatever we do and whatever we have done has a direct impact on our environment, on our future, on our youth,” he said in the article. “It has been a really tremendous journey.”