ABU DHABI (WAM)
The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI), in collaboration with the Federal Youth Authority, organised a discussion session titled ‘Youth Leadership in the Shift to Electric Vehicles’.
Hosted by the Rubu Qarn Science and Technology, the session aimed to explore ways to enhance the role of Emirati youth in driving the transition to clean energy and electric vehicles. The session highlighted the initiative Pole Position EV racing, which the Ministry launched in collaboration with the private sector to involve students in building an electric race car and racing it at the end of the build process.
The session drew the participation of Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs at MoEI, Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qassimi, Director of FANN, Ahmed Al Kaabi, Assistant Undersecretary for Electricity, Water, and Future Energy Sector at MoEI, Hanan Al Mahmoud, Vice Chairperson of Sharjah Women Sports, Khaled Al Nakhi, Director of Sharjah Capability Development, Sheikha Al Shamsi, Director of Sajaya Young Ladies of Sharjah, and Khawla Al Hawai, Director of Sharjah Children.
Al Olama said, “Organising this youth session aligns with the Ministry’s commitment to empowering the young generation and helping it shape a sustainable future. Our Pole Position initiative aims to highlight the important role of electric vehicles in reducing carbon emissions, in line with the National Conservation Campaign ‘Save to Sustain’. Through such events, we seek to encourage youth to become leaders of change and key contributors to our sustainability agenda.”
He added, “We are also happy to see our EV market growing steadily as we plan to increase the share of electric and hybrid vehicles to 50% of total vehicles on our roads by 2050. To achieve this goal, we are constantly expanding our network of EV charging stations and offering a package of incentives that make EVs more appealing to customers. In 2023, 13% of total car sales were electric vehicles.
We expect the trend to continue in the coming years. So, we launched UAEV, the first electric vehicle charging company wholly owned by the UAE government, in line with the country's vision for a greener future and the commitment to reducing carbon emissions in the transportation sector.
UAEV works on promoting green transportation by expanding the national infrastructure for charging electric vehicles throughout the Emirates. UAEV targets to deploy 100 chargers in 2024 and over 1000 chargers by 2030.”
For her part, Director of Rubu Qarn Science and Technology Ahlam Al Ahmad underscored that the Rubu Qarn Foundation for Creating Future Leaders and Innovators is keen on providing an interactive environment that stimulates young Emirati talent, as it offers a host of programmes for the young generation to leverage modern technology in developing trailblazing sustainability solutions.
At the end of the session, participants agreed on the importance of promoting collaboration between the government, youth, and the private sector to achieve future objectives, providing innovative solutions to infrastructure technical challenges, raising the young generation’s awareness of the role of electric vehicles in enhancing sustainability, securing sponsorships for the Pole Position initiative, and inspiring youth to adopt sustainable technologies and contribute to emission reduction.