Today's Edition
SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)
From mangrove forests mapped by drones to waste transformed into clean power, cutting-edge technology underpins the UAE’s drive toward environmental conservation and resource security. At Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2026, companies such as Nabat.ai and Tadweer Group are showcasing how artificial intelligence, robotics and circular-economy solutions are turning green strategies into real-world impact.
Climate tech company Nabat.ai has brought its ecosystem intelligence and restoration technologies to the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), part of ADSW.
Speaking to Aletihad, Taha Ghaznavi, the company’s Chief Product Officer, explained how Nabat.ai’s work — ranging from drone-led mangrove planting to real-time environmental monitoring — supports the UAE’s national sustainability priorities.
The country has a vision focused on terrestrial and marine ecosystem management and restoration, and Nabat.ai delivers data-driven tools that can help transform those ambitions into measurable outcomes, Ghaznavi said.
A key example is the company’s involvement in the Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative, which aims to plant 100 million mangroves by 2030. It works closely with the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi and other partners, and through its technology, Nabat.ai has already helped plant millions of mangroves across the emirate.
“We have mapping drones that capture RGB, multispectral and LiDAR imagery to assess ecosystems,” Ghaznavi said. “We also use seeding drones that enable highly precise, high-throughput planting—particularly for mangroves in the UAE—as well as monitoring drones that capture millimetre-precision imagery to track seeds and saplings over time.”
Ghaznavi considers artificial intelligence and robotics among the most significant sustainability breakthroughs shaping the next decade.
“AI and robotics represent a major step forward in how we approach sustainable restoration,” he said. “They connect conservation science with real-world action and allow us to move faster.”
Alongside nature-based solutions, WFES is also spotlighting the role of waste in the energy transition, with Tadweer Group demonstrating how waste-to-energy projects and AI-driven systems are strengthening the circular economy.
“At the summit, we are really talking about how waste can support a sustainable, secure and clean energy future,” Ollie Lawson, Director of Communications at Tadweer Group, told Aletihad.
The group’s flagship facility in Abu Dhabi is almost 70% complete, and once fully operational, it is bound to play a key role in diverting significant volumes of waste away from landfills while boosting energy security, Lawson said.
He stressed that waste would remain a reliable energy source even as recycling improves. “However much we reduce or recycle, there will always be waste,” Lawson said. “That means there will always be a clean, simple feedstock for waste to energy, which can help provide secure power.”
Technology, particularly artificial intelligence, is also central to Tadweer Group’s strategy, he said.
“We have launched our AI-integrated waste management platform, now rebranded as Tadweer 360, which improves collection efficiency, monitoring, and the quality of feedstock going into our waste-to-energy facilities,” Lawson said.
Such solutions, however, won’t instantly translate into sustainable impact without the push of partnerships. Lawson said collaboration is one of the most important outcomes of ADSW.
“A circular economy and a strong sustainable future will not be created in silos,” he said, highlighting joint initiatives with organisations such as Masdar and ADNOC as examples of how collective efforts are accelerating progress across the UAE’s sustainability landscape.
