Media releases

The EI President’s Award is to be awarded to Her Excellency Dr Nawal Al-Hosany, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

She will receive the President’s Award and speak as guest of honour at the dinner concluding International Energy Week, taking place 27-29 February 2024.

Energy Institute President Juliet Davenport OBE HonFEI said:

“Having just returned from COP28, I’ve seen first-hand the enormity of the multilateral operation underway to effect transformative climate action. Dr Al-Hosany has been at the forefront of this work, in her home nation and internationally, advocating for renewable energies and tackling the barriers to their deployment, to accelerate the energy transition.

“The President’s Award is the Energy Institute’s highest accolade. As a champion not only for the energy transition, but for women in the industry, Dr Nawal is an extremely deserving recipient and I look forward to presenting her with the Award at International Energy Week.”  

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany commented:

“I am humbled and honoured to receive the Energy Institute’s President’s Award. As the world moves ahead with plans to transition away from fossil fuels towards clean and renewable solutions, energy access is more important than ever.

“Working together in the decade of action is a non-negotiable. It is only through collaboration and cooperation that we will design solutions without borders to achieve our net-zero ambitions while ensuring that the global energy transition is just, fair and leaves no one behind.”

Dr Al-Hosany’s career spans government, business and academia, both in the UAE and internationally. She currently serves as a member of the COP28 Advisory Committee; the advisory panel for the UNFCCC’s Momentum for Change initiative; the Board for the American University of Sharjah; and Investcorp Capital. Concurrently, she serves as the Vice Chair for the Global Council of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She has also held positions on several boards and intergovernmental bodies, including Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the international organisation working to accelerate action on SDG7, and Khalifa University, the public research university in Abu Dhabi.

A prolific writer, Dr Al-Hosany has been published globally in international journals and newspapers. She believes passionately in the leading role that women can play in responding to global sustainability and climate change challenges, a cause she championed as the Programme Director of the UAE-led Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER) initiative which she launched in 2015.

Dr Al-Hosany is also credited as one of the first two Emirati women to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,895 metres above sea-level.

The President’s Award is the most prestigious award made by the EI’s President in the name of its global membership, it succeeds the Cadman and Melchett Awards, dating back to 1946 and 1930 respectively, and is awarded to an outstanding individual who has contributed to addressing solutions relevant to global energy challenges, in particular combatting climate change and opening up access to energy.

Previous recipients of the President’s Award include the UN’s Damilola Ogunbiyi HonFEI and Tufts University’s Rachel Kyte CMG HonFEI.

International Energy Week 2024 is taking place on 27-29 February, with ‘In search of the energy transition’ as its theme. The conference speaker programme so far confirmed includes:

• Juliet Davenport OBE HonFEI – President, Energy Institute
• Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP – Shadow Secretary of State of Climate Change and Net Zero
• Professor Jim Skea CBE FEI – Chair, IPCC
• Catherine MacGregor – Chief Executive Officer, Engie
• Damilola Ogunbiyi HonFEI – CEO, Sustainable Energy for All; Co-Chair, UN Energy
• Russel Hardy – Chief Executive Officer, Vitol
• Dame Julia King HonFEI – Baroness Brown of Cambridge
• Graeme Buss – Just Stop Oil
• Katja Wodjereck – Executive Vice President – Renewable Products, Neste
• Kirsty Gogan FEI – Found Director and Co-CEO, Terra Praxis
• Freya Burton – Chief Sustainability Officer, LanzaTech
• Sam Fankhauser – Oxford Net Zero Research Director; Professor of Climate Economics and Policy

Notes for editors

1. International Energy Week takes place 27-29 February 2024. Full information is at www.ieweek.co.uk.
2. For conference media accreditation and any other enquiries, contact Neil Michie on 020 7467 7132 or nmichie@energyinst.org
3. Dr Nawal Al-Hosany’s biography can be found here: https://www.energyinst.org/__data/assets/word_doc/0003/1429302/Biography-Dr.-Nawal-Al-Hosany.docx
4. More information about the criteria and history of the President’s Award is at www.energyinst.org/whats-on/search/presidents-award
5. The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body for people who work across the world of energy.
   Our purpose is to create a better energy future for our members and society by accelerating a just global energy transition to net zero.
   We do this by attracting, developing and equipping the diverse future energy workforce; informing energy decision-making through convening expertise and advice; and enabling industry and consumers to make energy lower carbon, safer and more efficient.
   @EnergyInstitute #IEWeek