Go Green

The Al Jalila Foundation building has been awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) under the LEED EBOM (Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance) rating system, one of the most widely recognized green building standards in the world. The certification evaluates building performance across a range of criteria, including energy efficiency, water consumption, indoor air quality, waste management, transportation impact, and occupant health, comfort, and satisfaction.

“On World Sustainability Day, the UAE’s journey towards Net Zero 2050 requires us to focus not only on how energy is produced, but also on how efficiently it is consumed. In a region where cooling is essential to daily life and economic growth, district cooling plays an important role in reducing energy demand and carbon emissions.

Ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference, co-hosted by the UAE and Senegal in Abu Dhabi this December, Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, called for water resilience to become a central priority in economic and investment planning, emphasising the need to connect water, energy, technology, and finance to drive sustainable growth and strengthen economic competitiveness.

Sustainability in any system is mostly a matter of design. A building that needs constant air conditioning to be habitable is badly designed; one that stays cool because of its orientation and materials is well designed, and needs less willpower from the people in it. The same logic applies to a gaming market. Most countries built theirs first and added protections afterwards, which is why those protections lean so heavily on individual self-control. The UAE built the regulator before the first product, and the result is a market where several of the safeguards are structural. Here are five of them, what each does, and how they compare with open markets, using Play971, the country's licensed online sportsbook and casino, as the working example.

Rosatom State Corporation became a partner of the 28th Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX 2026), held in Dubai, UAE, from 20 to 22 October. As part of the exhibition's business programme, Rosatom representatives contributed to expert discussions on energy security, decarbonisation and sustainable infrastructure development, while showcasing Russian technological solutions to address global energy and environmental challenges.

A new study from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has revealed how coral-associated bacteria help corals withstand extreme heat by producing steroid hormones that strengthen their immune response.

Abu Dhabi has completed the first implementation phase of the Environmental Centennial 2071, advancing the emirate’s long-term environmental vision for future generations. Between 2023 and 2025, nine government entities delivered 751 achievements through 98 programmes, translating a shared vision into coordinated action across government.

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) participated in the 11th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference (IWC11), organised by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in Bali, Indonesia, where Her Excellency Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General of EAD and Vice Chair of the Global Council on SDG 14, was among the keynote speakers at the opening ceremony.

Forbes Middle East has named H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC (Empower), among its Sustainability Leaders in the Energy and Utilities sector across the Middle East, in recognition of his contributions to advancing sustainability efforts and practices in the region.

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar, a global clean energy leader, has signed an agreement to acquire and develop one of Greece’s largest solar projects, strengthening the country's clean energy infrastructure and supporting its ambitions as a European digital hub, while deepening the strategic partnership between the UAE and Greece.