Page 357 - MOET ENGLISH PR REPORT - OCTOBER 2025 (Part 1)

10/29/25, 11:25 AM Ministry Of Economy And Tourism, Expo City Dubai Launch UAE’s First Green Innovation District | Pakistan Point
Aiming to yield significant reductions in carbon emissions and waste, the Green Innovation
District caters to businesses involved in the circular economy, urban farming or offering
sustainable products and services. It will offer flexible office, retail and F&B space as well as a
number of light industrial unit and farm plots.

As part of its free zone – which was awarded fDi Intelligence’s global “rising star” free zone for
2025 – Expo City will launch UAE’s first Green Licence aimed at attracting entities committed to
environmental and social sustainability. Offering a host of incentives to enable companies to set
up and operate seamlessly, the licence will encourage innovation and support
green business growth. In addition, the Ministry of Economy will set up an IP Office at Expo
City Dubai to encourage research and development. Both initiatives are designed to increase
the UAE’s competitiveness in attracting innovators and advance sustainable practices.

Expo City, designed as a blueprint for sustainable urban development, builds on its legacy as
the home of Expo 2020 Dubai and COP28 to create a hub for sustainability pioneers and
a driver of meaningful partnerships and initiatives.

Its master plan is pre-certified Platinum – the highest possible rating – in LEED (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) Cities and Communities standard, while LEED Gold will
continue to be a minimum requirement for all buildings. The plan has also achieved pre-
certification for WELL Community – a standard that emphasises health and wellbeing – and is
targeting WELL Gold. Having already achieved an ‘Excellent’ rating under BREEAM
Infrastructure across eight existing projects, the city is aiming to reach this rating
for all infrastructure and public realm projects.

As a go-to destination for globally significant events, Expo City boasts multiple ISO 20121:2024-
certified indoor and outdoor venues, demonstrating its eco-credentials for the planned ‘Green
Investopia’ conference in 2026 – an event dedicated to exploring key trends in green investing
and attract investment to the UAE. An off-shoot of the Investopia series of conferences
organised by the Ministry, this will further strengthen Expo City’s position as a convening hub.

Terra – a LEED Platinum-certified building, designed to be net zero for both energy and water –
exemplifies best practice in sustainable building design and is Expo City’s hub for biodiversity
and conservation. Pioneering initiatives focused on preserving and sustaining our planet, it has
partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission
(IUCN SSC) to establish the world’s first Centre for Species Survival dedicated to fungi. It is also
the regional office of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots programme – a global environmental,
animal welfare, and humanitarian youth outreach initiative.

In addition, Expo City’s city-wide testbed provides a real urban environment to trial and scale
nature-first ideas with global impact, creating competitive advantages for businesses by
boosting resource efficiency and supporting innovation and collaboration. Many companies
focused on clean energy and decarbonisation – including ENGIE, Siemens Energy, Nestlé, DS
Energy, Carbon Assurance, Carbon Standard and DNV – have already established operations in
the city.

The landmark initiative was announced at the Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayors’ Forum,
held at Expo City Dubai, which gathered mayors and city leaders from more than 350 cities and
provided a platform to introduce major projects enabling governments and businesses to unlock
trade and investment opportunities to build more sustainable cities.

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