Davos, January 18, 2024, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the World Economic Forum’s innovation platform, UpLink, have inked two pivotal agreements aimed at propelling global solutions to contemporary environmental and sustainability challenges. The agreements, signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, were endorsed by His Excellency Faisal F. Alibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning, and Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum. The focus of these accords is on 'Catalyzing Innovation for an Ocean Positive Economy' and 'Catalyzing Innovation for a Positive Circular Carbon Economy (CCE).'
These agreements have a strategic objective of nurturing innovation ecosystems centered around early-stage impact entrepreneurs, with the aim of sparking investments and backing for groundbreaking solutions. The areas of focus include critical sustainable development challenges such as ocean degradation, biodiversity loss, and the circular carbon economy.
The initiative is a collaborative effort led by the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), joined by the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI), and the WAVE Initiative under FII (Future Investment Initiative).
Reflecting on the signing of these agreements at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024, His Excellency Alibrahim emphasized Saudi Arabia's commitment to tackling climate and sustainable development challenges through responsible environmental stewardship and transformative investments in innovative and scalable technological solutions.
John Dutton, Head of UpLink, underscored the urgency of addressing the climate emergency and highlighted the crucial role of innovative solutions from early-stage entrepreneurs in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals. The enhanced partnership between UpLink and Saudi Arabia is seen as a testament to the transformative impact of innovation and collaboration in the pursuit of sustainable and resilient resource futures.
Building on the MEP-UpLink partnership established in 2022, these new agreements build upon initiatives like the 'Food Ecosystems in Arid Climate Challenge' and the 'Smarter Climate Farmers Challenge,' previously launched with MEWA. These challenges garnered over 430 submissions, leading to the recognition of 22 winners for their innovative and impactful solutions. The winners received funding, global exposure, and access to WEF and partner events.
