Growth of renewables in the Middle East in the spotlight at Milken Institute summit

Masdar’s Chief Financial Officer, Niall Hannigan, joined more than 1,000 global thought leaders, government officials and business leaders at the recent Milken Institute’s 2020 Middle East and Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi.

The two-day event, held from February 11-12, featured a range of speakers including Mariam Almheiri, UAE Minister of State for Food Security, Khaldoon al Mubarak, Chief Executive Officer of Mubadala Investment Company, Paul Ryan, a former US House of Representatives Speaker and Deepak Chopra, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chopra Institute.

Hannigan joined a high-level panel at the summit, where participants discussed the significant growth of renewable energy in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE. 

During the panel, titled The New Energy Order: A Shift Toward Renewables, Hannigan said: “When Masdar was launched in 2006, renewables was a nascent industry and sustainability was nowhere near the top of the agenda. This has changed. Thankfully, the world is now taking climate change mitigation more seriously, and renewables is now part of the mainstream with an undeniable place in the energy mix offering cost competitive solutions when compared with conventional sources.