Collaboration has always been at the heart of Frontier25’s work, and the past few months have been a time for strengthening our global partnerships as we push ahead towards our shared climate goals.
In May, Her Highness Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan visited Cambridge University in the UK, where she toured the beautiful gardens at Robinson College (Her Highness’ alma mater) and joined Lindsay Hooper, CEO of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, for a fireside chat. Their discussion covered Her Highness’ leadership journey, the UAE’s connection with its natural environment, and the country’s growing role as a global leader in sustainability solutions.
The following week, deepening Frontier25’s existing partnership with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Her Highness visited Monaco, where she was hosted by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II at the second annual Blue Economy and Finance Forum. Delivering the keynote speech, Her Highness emphasised the importance of capital investment to accelerate the transition to a sustainable and regenerative blue economy. “This is a duty handed down from generations past to generations still to come,” she said. “We cannot allow ourselves to be blown off course. Climate change will not pause, and neither should we.”
On the sidelines of the forum, Her Highness met with His Serene Highness Prince Albert II to discuss opportunities for building on the partnership between the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Frontier25, and The Climate Tribe, which currently includes working together to promote and develop their common sustainability goals, including promoting and developing impact investment, ocean innovation, and blue finance.
Collaborating with local partners
Closer to home the Frontier25 team met with PwC Middle East at their Experience Center to witness firsthand how the organisation is applying sustainability in its consultancy work. Closing the circle around climate action to enable ideas and policy to be enacted on the ground is something we are constantly striving towards, and collaborative sessions with partners like these are key to our future success.
Contributing to global dialogues
Kevin Czok, Senior Manager of Strategy & Programmes at Frontier25, joined the Technology and Innovation Advisory Board (TIAB) of the International Energy Agency (IEA). TIAB brings together over 60 global leaders across industry, investment, research, and innovation ecosystems. Having a place at this table brings our regional perspective to a global dialogue that actively shapes the international energy transition agenda.
Growing the circular economy
The Abu Dhabi Infrastructure Summit provided an opportunity for Frontier25 to lend its voice to the discussion around circularity, specifically how the construction sector can reduce waste before it is created. Frontier25’s Nour Mezher, Senior Manager with Strategy & Programmes, moderated a fascinating discussion on the subject, reflecting our work in bringing together different sectors to turns ideas into impact.
Enriching the climate conversation
As part of our commitment to sharing climate insights with our audience, we launched a non-resident fellowship for climate thought leadership as a space for experts in our network to offer their views on pressing climate issues.
John A. Burt, Professor of Biology and Co-director of the Mubadala Arabian Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences at New York University Abu Dhabi, explored the Gulf’s manmade coastal infrastructures and how they can be designed to help nature. You can read the article here: What if coastal infrastructure helped nature rather than replaced it?
Douglas Crawford-Brown, Professor Emeritus in Environmental Sciences, Universities of Cambridge and North Carolina and member of Frontier25’s Advisory Council, looked at how people make decisions and what we can do to inspire them to make greener choices. You can read the article here: Influencing climate-friendly choices is more complex than you think
Amgad Elmahdi, Head of the Middle East Region for the Green Climate Fund, delved into how water lies at the heart of food systems, infrastructure security, and social resilience and asked whether countries can mobilise the investment required to secure water systems before the impacts of climate change outpace adaptation efforts. You can read the article here: Water is at the centre of adaptation, resilience, and sustainable finance
Nurturing young minds
Resilience takes many forms, and in young people it can come from stories that help make sense of difficult questions.
In June, Her Highness led a special reading of her recently published book WHOOSH! A Story About the Sounds of Safety at Abu Dhabi Children’s Library in the Cultural Foundation. The session brought children and families together around a book created to offer reassurance in moments of uncertainty.
Celebrating startup success
We were delighted to see that Desolenator, one of Frontier25’s second-cycle Circular Economy Launchpad cohort members, was selected as one of 20 semi-finalists in the $119M XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition, backed by the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative. This is a huge achievement, and we are proud to have supported Desolenator with the initial steps of its journey to impact.
Recognition as a net-zero strategic partner
We were honoured to be recognised by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCaE) as a strategic partner in support of the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 Strategy. We have already been working closely with the MoCCaE across multiple streams and the growing partnership reflects our shared commitment to advancing practical climate action across policy, innovation, technology, and cross-sector collaboration.
The Climate Tribe
Continuing its mission to engage the community in climate action, The Climate Tribe held a series of workshops covering topics from how to create impactful social media content, to sustainable gift-giving for Eid, and how to protect turtles found in UAE waters.
The Climate Tribe’s monthly film screenings also created a buzz at the Hub, with showings of Our Living World: Road to Recovery and Ocean with David Attenborough to mark World Ocean Day.
TCT Studio showcased its own film-making talents by producing a short documentary to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Emirates Green Building Council, highlighting the UAE’s rich heritage and how it has grown and thrived in unison with the natural environmental.
Other community events included a pre-loved book swap and a quiz night to mark World Environment Day, as well as our monthly ‘Coffee and Connect’ networking event, which is a great way for people to come together, build relationships, and discuss climate issues.
New frontiers for climate legislation
The UAE climate law came into force at the end of May, signalling an exciting new era for climate action. Frontier25’s advisory services help organisations achieve their climate and sustainability goals. If you would like to find out how we can help your business meet the new requirements, please get in touch at info@frontier25.ae.
Engage with us
We are always keen to work with partners who share our climate and sustainability goals. If you would like to find out more about how we can collaborate, email us at info@frontier25.com.
Or come and meet us at one of our monthly ‘Coffee and Connect’ events at The Climate Tribe Hub, designed for people to meet, share ideas, and start meaningful conversations. Everyone is welcome. Follow us on Instagram and find out more at www.theclimatetribe.com.
