A week at Expo 2017 #7: Building the Future, Saving the Planet

An Expo is a unique place where we can learn from each other in a spirit of cooperation, and, where we can learn with each other, in a spirit of innovation. Expo 2017 Astana is a platform of education and exchange on “Future Energy”, where this complex subject is addressed by continued debate through meetings, conferences, forums and round table discussions.

The Future Energy Forum (FEF) is a key working event of Expo 2017, hosting a series of 12 dedicated conferences between 29 June and 5 September. Organised in the Expo Congress Centre under the banner of “Building the Future, Saving the Planet”, FEF provides a platform for the discussion of the key energy challenges highlighted within the Expo’s national, international and thematic pavilions. It is thus an opportunity to tackle strategic priorities and the key energy challenges that the planet faces: climate change, poverty, water access, and biodiversity.

Each FEF session is dedicated to a specific topic within the “Future Energy” sphere, allowing speakers and participants to address complex subjects in a comprehensive way. Following on from three preparatory sessions held in the run-up to the Expo, the first FEF session of Expo 2017 was dedicated to “The Energy Revolution”, with the final one to be focused on “Creating our Future”. The agenda includes a range of conferences touching on issues such as energy transition policies and how to tackle climate change while ensuring energy security, optimising energy efficiency in urban environments, reducing industrial emissions, and managing socio-economic developments in the post-carbon future.

Opening the third session today, entitled “International Scientific and University Conference”, Nazerbayev University President Shigeo Katsu emphasised the complexity of educating visitors and participants about “Future Energy” in an understandable and interesting way. Within this context, Mr. Katsu told attendees that FEF endeavours "to make a tangible input on the way forward.” Specifically, the concrete result of FEF will be the Manifesto of Values and Principles, presenting summaries of FEF conferences and proposing recommendation aimed at solving global energy problems.

In addition to FEF, several international forums and conferences are being organised within the framework of Expo 2017, such as a conference of the multilateral Green Bridge Partnership Programme and the UNWTO’s world conference on “Tourism and Future Energy: Unlocking Low Carbon Growth Opportunities.” International participants are also organising meetings and conferences, such as today's German-Kazakh Presidential summit, and the recent China-Kazakhstan Energy Cooperation Forum, or FinTech forum in the United Kingdom pavilion.

From visits in the multiple pavilions to high-level political or business talks, Expo 2017 is a place of connections where citizens and global institutions come together to actively and constructively contribute to finding solutions to the energy challenges through peace, creativity and solidarity. Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy for all is a challenge confronting every country, that affects everyone, and the Expo fosters the development of new forms of cooperation to contribute to this goal.