It was the final of 10 Theme Weeks across the World Expo’s six-month run, which ended on March 26, after seven days of expert discussions that covered key topics such as water security, future technologies and indigenous people’s knowledge as standout themes.
The Theme Week, a collaboration between Expo 2020 Dubai, the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, began on March 20, with World Majlis panel discussion Deep Blue: The (Other) Final Frontier – a collaboration with the Portugal Pavilion held at Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion.
Speakers included Ricardo da Piedade Abreu Serrão Santos, Minister of the Sea, Government of Portugal; Kathleen Swalling, maritime law and strategy advisor, and Managing Director, Nature Based Solutions and Burton Jones, Professor of Oceanography, the Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
The next day, March 21, saw Nina Jensen, the CEO of REV Ocean, a state-of-the-art research vessel, and former Secretary-General of WWF Norway, join other maritime experts for a marine habitat-focused World Majlis, touting the role of next-gen robotics, AI and satellite monitoring in protecting marine ecosystems.
Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure; Saeed Mohammed Ahmad Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of Dewa and Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, then opened the Water Business Forum.
It was a co-curation between Expo 2020 Dubai, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Estonia, held at Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC) on Tuesday, as Water Week approached the halfway mark on World Water Day (March 22).
Al Mazrouei spoke on the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036, while Al Tayer dubbed water security as a matter of national importance for the UAE.
Erki Savisaar, Estonia’s Minister of Environment, touted the European country’s digitalisation success in water management in a later panel, alongside Dr Markus Lade, General Manager, Water & Wastewater, Siemens (Official Infrastructure Digitalisation Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai), who spotlighted the role of data in identifying and stopping water leakages.
Later that day (March 22), water experts gathered at Nexus for People and Planet event in a series of discussions tasked with reimagining the planet's relationship with water and exploring innovations to improve sustainable water use.
Mark Harbers, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands, spoke on protecting the country’s groundwater reserves.
