World Green Economy Summit 2026 shifts the dialogue from success to wider impact

Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the 12th edition of the World Green Economy Summit (WGES) is being convened under the theme, ‘From Success to Scale: Showcasing the Green Economy’. At the heart of the summit’s discussions is an increasingly urgent question as the global green transition accelerates: How can we move from proven green models to large-scale implementation at the speed demanded by today’s economic and climate challenges?

According to the Climate Policy Initiative, global climate finance surpassed USD 2 trillion for the first time in 2024. However, the initiative emphasises that the pace of growth must quicken to meet global climate goals. Organised by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO), WGES will take place on 21 and 22 October 2026 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. It will discuss how to scale up proven models and provide the finance, infrastructure, policies and partnerships required to enable them to achieve broader and more sustainable impact.

“Global experiences have demonstrated that the solutions needed to drive the green economy already exist, and the priority now is to accelerate their implementation, scale them up and amplify their impact. The World Green Economy Summit 2026 reflects this stage of progress by bringing together policymakers and decision-makers, investors, experts and innovators to share proven models, explore financing and partnership opportunities, and foster the international cooperation required to transform individual achievements into a broader and sustainable shift that benefits both current and future generations. This approach also reflects the evolution of various green economy sectors into established markets offering growing economic opportunities, as the green transition is no longer solely about achieving environmental goals but has also become a pathway to growth, innovation and enhanced competitiveness,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, MD & CEO of DEWA and Chairman of WGEO.

The Middle East and North Africa region plays a pivotal role in this landscape, with vast renewable energy potential, significant investment capital and a growing ecosystem of green projects and technologies. The UAE stands out as a practical model of this transformation, with initiatives spanning large-scale solar energy and energy storage projects, green hydrogen and clean-energy-powered water desalination. Operational renewable energy capacity in the MENA region has reached 43.7 gigawatts (GW) while the capacity of projects under development exceeds 200GW.

WGES 2026 will focus on seven key topics across four main thematic pillars: Energy Technology & Infrastructure; Business Strategy & Transition; Water & Food Security; and Finance. It will also address three cross-cutting themes: Artificial Intelligence; Governance; and System Enablers, including Supply Chains and the Circular Economy. Through these topics, the summit aims to transform existing successes into scalable models and consolidate the green economy as a practical pathway to growth, resilience and sustainability.