World Green Economy Summit 2026: Dates, Venue, Theme and Agenda

World Green Economy Summit 2026

In this guide you will find what the summit is, the correct dates and hall, the 2026 theme, the agenda for each day, who is speaking and how to register.

Latest announcements, updated 15 October 2026

• 20 June 2026: the organisers announced the dates of the 12th summit and its theme. Dates
• 30 July: the four main pillars and three cross-cutting themes were published. Theme
• 3 September: the organisers asked people to register early. How to register
• 28 September: 135 speakers were announced. Speakers
• 14 October: the full agenda on wges.ae was last updated, with a room for each session. Agenda
• Not announced: a delegate fee, and whether a WETEX visitor badge lets you into the summit. Can WETEX visitors attend?

What Is the World Green Economy Summit?

The World Green Economy Summit, or WGES, is a yearly two-day conference in Dubai about the green economy: how countries and companies can grow while cutting carbon, saving water and protecting the planet. It began in 2014, and 2026 is the 12th edition.

Three bodies organise it together:

• the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, which sets Dubai's energy policy
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), the city's power and water company
• the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO), an international body that Dubai set up with the United Nations Development Programme

It is held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

So who goes? The summit's own list names ministers and policymakers, business leaders and investors, banks, NGOs, consultants and university academics. In other words, it is a conference for people who work on climate, energy, water or green finance, not an exhibition you walk around. The programme is made of talks and panel discussions in a conference hall.

World Green Economy Summit 2026 Dates

The summit runs on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October 2026. Some event listings online give 20 and 21 October, or 20 to 22 October. Those are wrong. The dates on the official website, the DWTC events page and every press release from the organisers are 21 and 22 October.

The mix-up happens because the summit sits inside the WETEX week. WETEX, the big exhibition that DEWA runs at the same venue, starts one day earlier, on Tuesday 20 October.

One small trap: if you use the "add to calendar" buttons on the summit's homepage, check the date. When we tried them on 15 October, they saved the event in November. Type it into your calendar by hand instead.

World Green Economy Summit 2026 Venue

The 2026 summit is held in Sheikh Rashid Hall at Dubai World Trade Centre, on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. The nearest Metro stop is World Trade Centre station on the Red Line. For the entrances, the walk from the Metro and parking, read our WETEX location guide, because the summit and WETEX share the same building.

World Green Economy Summit 2026 Theme

The 2026 theme is "From Success to Scale: Showcasing the Green Economy".

The idea behind it is simple. The organisers say the world no longer needs to be told that climate action is needed. Working examples already exist, so this year's summit looks at which green projects are already succeeding, and how to copy them faster and on a bigger scale.

The sessions are grouped under four main pillars, with three more themes running through all of them.

In practice, this shapes what you hear on stage. The finance pillar, for example, starts from a gap the organisers quote: the world needs at least USD 6.3 trillion a year in climate investment until 2030, but only about USD 2.3 trillion is being invested now. The AI theme looks at both sides of the question, because AI can help run power grids more efficiently, but the data centres behind it use a lot of electricity and water.

Last year's theme was different. The 11th summit, held at DWTC on 1 and 2 October 2025, was called "Innovating for Impact: Accelerating the Future of the Green Economy".

WGES 2026 Agenda

The full WGES 2026 agenda is on the summit's website, with a time and a room for every session. Most of it takes place in the main hall. A smaller breakout room runs panels on the first day, and two closed-door roundtables meet in a separate room.

The agenda does not yet say which speaker is on which panel. It lists only the title, time and room of each session.

Day 1: Wednesday 21 October

The first day starts at 9am, before the official opening, with a session on circular business models. The opening ceremony follows at 10am, so arrive by 9:30am if you want a seat for it. After that the main hall moves through the cost of green technology, clean energy, energy storage, data centres and the business case for going green.

Day 2: Thursday 22 October

The second day is mostly about money and resources: which green sectors are growing fastest, green finance in the Gulf, how to prove that climate projects pay back, clean water technology and food production in a hotter climate.

Emirates Energy Award announcement

At 1:30pm on Thursday 22 October, the main hall has a 30-minute awards session called "Announcing the Next Cycle of EEA". EEA is the Emirates Energy Award, which the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy runs for organisations and people in the energy sector. The previous cycle, the fifth, was launched at the 2023 summit and covered 2023 to 2025.

This slot launches the new cycle. The categories, entry rules and deadline are not on the agenda, so if your organisation wants to enter, watch for them after the session.

Sessions outside the main hall

On Wednesday, the breakout room has four panels: young people and sustainability leadership at 9am, water as a business priority at 11:30am, using AI and data to check climate claims at 12:45pm, and cleaner aviation fuel in the Middle East at 2pm.

Two sessions are marked closed-door: a ministerial roundtable on green investment from 12:30pm to 2pm, and a roundtable for finance chiefs from 3pm to 4:30pm. Do not plan your day around these, because they are for invited guests only.

WGES 2026 Speakers

The organisers say 135 speakers will take part in 2026, including ministers, government officials, business leaders and experts. On 15 October, the speakers page on wges.ae showed 53 of them, and new profiles were still being added in October.

Some of the names on that page:

• Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
• Abdulla Ahmed Balalaa, UAE Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability
• Sheikha Dr Shamma Mohammed Khalid Al Nahyan, Chairperson of the Board of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan Cultural and Educational Institutions
• Arshad Mansoor, President and CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
• Anne Le Guennec, CEO of Veolia Water Technologies
• Mazin Khan, Chief Financial Officer of Masdar
• Joan Larrea, CEO of Convergence Blended Finance
• Najib Saab, Secretary General of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development

The page shows each speaker's name and job, but not their session. So if you are going to hear one person, check the WGES speakers page again closer to the day, and be in the hall for the sessions that match their field.

How to Register for the World Green Economy Summit

You register for the summit on its own registration website, not through WETEX. The "Register Now" button on wges.ae takes you there, and you choose between two public routes: Delegate for most people, and Media for journalists.

Delegate registration

This is the form for anyone attending the sessions. Before you start, have a scan or photo of your passport, and of the front and back of your Emirates ID if you live in the UAE. Each file must be PNG, PDF or JPEG and no bigger than 2 MB.

Here is the form in the order you will see it:

1. Personal details. Choose your title and gender, type your first and last name, your job title and your company name, then choose your nationality and your country of residence.
2. Contact. Type your email address, because your confirmation code is sent there. Then type your mobile number and your WhatsApp number, because the e-badge is sent to WhatsApp.
3. ID. Answer "Do you reside in the UAE?", then type your passport number, and your Emirates ID number if you live here.
4. About you. Choose your main reason for attending, for example "Network with industry leaders" or "Learn about the latest sustainability trends". Then choose what kind of organisation you work for, how you heard about the summit, up to three topics that interest you, and your industry.
5. Documents. Upload your passport, and the front and back of your Emirates ID.
6. Confirm. Tick the box for the terms and conditions and the box that says your information is correct, then press Submit.

On the day, bring the physical card. The form says UAE nationals and residents must show their Emirates ID, and visitors from abroad must show their passport.

One thing may confuse you. The welcome text at the top of the registration site still describes an older edition, with old dates. Ignore it. The 2026 dates are 21 and 22 October.

Media registration

Journalists, photographers and videographers use the Media form on the same site. It asks for the same personal details and ID documents, plus your media outlet's name, a photo of you and the kind of interview you want. The form says media badges are given only after approval, and only to people working in journalism.

Diplomat, speaker and VIP registration

The Register Now page on wges.ae also has three separate forms: Diplomat, Speakers and VIP. They are for diplomats, confirmed speakers and VIP guests. If you are none of these, use the Delegate form.

Can WETEX visitors attend the summit?

The organisers do not say. The summit is listed in the WETEX event programme and takes place in the same building, but it has its own registration with its own ID checks, and DWTC lists its audience as "trade only". So do not count on your WETEX visitor badge to get you into Sheikh Rashid Hall. Register as a delegate as well.

If you are unsure, email the summit team at info@wges.ae before you go. For media questions, the address is media@wges.ae.

What registration costs

No price is shown. The Delegate form has no ticket type, no payment step and no card field, and none of the organisers' announcements mention a fee. But no official page uses the word "free", so if another website asks you to pay for a WGES ticket, do not pay. The only official way in is the form on the summit's registration site.

The World Green Economy Summit and WETEX

The summit is part of WETEX. The WETEX website lists it as one of the show's three knowledge platforms, with the Green Mobility zone and the Health and Safety Hub. WETEX is the exhibition: three days, from 20 to 22 October, with about 600 companies on stands across the halls. The summit is the two-day conference in Sheikh Rashid Hall on the last two of those days. It does have its own website, its own registration form and its own organisers: the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, DEWA and the World Green Economy Organization.

That is also why you will not find a WGES exhibitor list. The summit is a conference, and its website has a sponsors page but no exhibitor list. The companies on show that week are at WETEX, and you can browse them in our WETEX exhibitor list. For WETEX dates, hours and registration, start with our WETEX 2026 guide.