Dubai Cares, a civil society organization formally associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications (UN DGC), yesterday convened its high-level RewirEd Summit Strategic Partners Meeting to set a united vision for COP28’s education outcomes. The meeting comes two weeks after the UAE-based global philanthropic organization was announced as the exclusive Education Partner for COP28 to host the second edition of the RewirEd Summit and represents another major step in its journey towards advocating for the role of education as a powerful enabler for climate action.

During the meeting, Dubai Cares turned its logo green, as a powerful message to the world about the crucial role that education plays in achieving climate ambitions. Dubai Cares will adopt the green logo until the end of COP28 to raise awareness, mobilize commitments and catalyze action for the integration of education into climate.

Hosted virtually, the RewirEd Summit Strategic Partners Meeting saw a number of high-level speakers including The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education; Mr. Leonardo Garnier, Special Adviser of the Secretary General on the Transforming Education Summit; Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO; Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW); Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum; along with other affiliates such as, Dr. Liesbet Steer, Executive Director, Education Commission; Kevin Frey, CEO of Generation Unlimited, call upon the education community to capitalize on this historic moment at COP28, to position education transformation at the core of all sustainable development goals.

Congratulating Dubai Cares’ leadership on providing a platform for education at COP28 and convening the RewirEd Summit Strategic Partners Meeting, The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, said: “The RewirEd Summit at COP28 is a great opportunity not only to make the case that climate change is already having a devastating impact on education, but it is also a chance to make the case that education is also the way to mitigate climate change and adapt to it.”

H.E. Dr. Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares, said: “We have long spoken about the obstacles and challenges preventing us from achieving our Sustainable Development Goals. The time has come for real action and real solutions. Education becoming one of the main pillars for COP28 is a milestone in itself that reflects the remarkable progress we have made in ensuring that education – as a key climate solution – gets a seat at the table in all major global discussions on climate. Now, on our road to COP28, we further need to unite our voices to drive our common goals to ensure that a conversation about climate is also a conversation about education and learning. By convening the RewirEd Summit Strategic Partners Meeting, we have – along with other major education and development actors – set a collective vision on how we can continue to position education as one of the most powerful strategies to drive prosperity for people and planet.”

Commending Dubai Cares on being chosen to represent the voice of education at COP28, Mr. Leonardo Garnier, Special Adviser of the Secretary General on the Transforming Education Summit, said: “We know that education has been in a deep crisis, and we discussed many of the challenges facing education at the Transforming Education Summit. As we prepare for the second edition of the RewirEd Summit at COP28, we need to continue working on changing the narrative on education in order to transform our capacities to finance education and our understanding of education as an investment.”

Recognizing Dubai Cares’ achievement in becoming the exclusive Education Partner for COP28, Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, said: “Dubai Cares can count on the full support of the World Economic Forum in advancing the climate and education agenda at COP28 through a deeper and more meaningful engagement of the private sector. We are very much looking forward to aligning our agendas with the global education sector to drive our common goals towards a more sustainable future for all.”

As part of the discussions, the RewirEd Summit Strategic Partners outlined three main priorities as the key desired outcomes for RewirEd engagements at COP28. These include integrating education and climate as a main pillar at every single future COP; aligning agendas, commitments and financing among climate actors and the education sector; as well as uniting climate and education actors to contribute towards global goals for climate adaption, mitigation, and resilience through rewired education systems taking into account those affected by conflict, natural disasters and epidemics.

To achieve these objectives, the RewirEd Summit engagements at COP28 will showcase global and national commitments during a high-level gathering, feature dynamic sessions and action workshops throughout COP28, as well as include an interactive space to spotlight innovative practices and scalable solutions to unlock the potential of transformed education systems in driving progress towards a prosperous and sustainable future for people and planet.

RewirEd Summit’s programming at COP28 will be structured around five thematic pillars, including rewiring teaching and learning; lifelong pathways for green skills and jobs; educators at the frontline of transformation for climate resilience; education investment for climate and prosperity; as well as youth as the changemakers for the future of people and planet.

In December 2021, Dubai Cares in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai and in close coordination with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), hosted the inaugural edition of the RewirEd Summit during Expo 2020 Dubai to address the most critical issues facing the education sector. The 3-day-long summit featured 500 speakers including 7 heads of state and 33 ministers and brought together over 2,810 in-person and 1,492 virtual attendees joining the debates, discussions and networking. Attendees represented over 140 nationalities while speakers came from more than 256 organizations, resulting in a truly global and holistic dialogue that included a mix of high-level and technical conversations, with a strong focus on collaboration and partnership.

The convening of the second edition of the RewirEd Summit at COP28 comes at a critical time when climate change poses a complex and significant threat to global development with its impact pushing hundreds of millions into poverty by 2030 among other catastrophic consequences. However, climate’s intersection with other global issues and crises offers an opportunity to, not only mitigate climate changes, but also to drive progress towards national and global aspirations through simultaneous gains in both green growth and human development.