HE Dr Nawal Al-Hosany

Permanent Representative of the UAE, International
Renewable Energy Agency

Her Excellency Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany is the Permanent Representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) since April 2018. Prior to this, she was the Executive Director of Sustainability at Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, and the Director of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, the UAE’s annual global awards for renewable energy and sustainability. She also served as the Deputy Director General of the Emirates Diplomatic Academy (EDA) between 2017-2018.

Apart from her current position and as part of her professional career, Dr. Al-Hosany assumes many positions in various business sectors, government entities and academic institutions in the UAE and internationally.

She is also a member of several boards and committees, including the advisory council of National Geographic magazine, in addition to her board membership in many local, regional and international initiatives and organizations, such as the advisory board of the Payne Institute in Colorado School of Mines, the advisory Panel for the Momentum for Change initiative of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and her previous membership in the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa University of Science and Technology (February 2017 – April 2020).

Her professional achievements have been widely acknowledged through prestigious awards. In July 2018, Dr. Al-Hosany was presented the “Doctor of letters Honoris Causa” from Keele University in the UK in recognition for her achievements in the field of sustainability. Dr Al-Hosany also received the “Arab Woman Award” and the “Emirates Business Women Award”.

She graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at the UAE University in 1992 and obtained her PhD from Newcastle University in the UK in 2002.

Dr. Al-Hosany is also credited as one of the first two Emirati women to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,895 metres above sea-level.