About the Forum

Policies and Partnerships Shaping a Business Ecosystem for a Clean Energy Transition: EU-GCC Opportunities on Clean Tech Cooperation

The 2nd EU-GCC Green Transition Forum will take place on 6 October 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of the EU-GCC Cooperation on Green Transition Project funded by the European Union.

Following the strong momentum of the inaugural forum in Abu Dhabi (October 2024), this second edition will once again bring together government leaders, industry champions, financial institutions, and international organisations from Europe and the Gulf. It will serve as a high-level platform to shape policies, forge partnerships, and unlock opportunities for a cleaner, more sustainable future.

This year’s theme — “Policies and Partnerships shaping a Business Ecosystem for a Clean Energy Transition: EU-GCC Opportunites on Clean Tech Cooperation” — reflects the shared ambition to build a bi-directional Green Business Value Chain that spans renewable energy, hydrogen, critical raw materials, sustainable finance, and innovation in clean technologies.

The Forum is firmly anchored in the strategic visions of the GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia’s Green Initiative and Middle East Green Initiative, while aligning with the EU’s Green Deal and Clean Industrial Deal, which aim to tackle climate change, strengthen competitiveness, and secure resilient supply chains.

Beyond the GCC, the Forum will also explore EU-GCC triangular cooperation across the wider MENA region, with a special focus on hydrogen markets, technology transfer, and sustainable investment frameworks — positioning Europe and the Gulf as key partners in advancing the global energy transition.

Objectives

The Forum seeks to strengthen EU-GCC collaboration by creating a dynamic space where policy, business, and innovation intersect. Its objectives include:

Deepening strategic cooperation between the EU and GCC across key areas of the green transition — from renewable energy and hydrogen to circular economy solutions, biodiversity protection, sustainable water management, and nature-based approaches.
Driving policy alignment and technology adoption, enabling the GCC region to accelerate its decarbonisation journey while benefitting from Europe’s experience in regulatory frameworks, carbon markets, and clean tech deployment.
Unlocking business opportunities by improving market conditions for European companies in the GCC, with a particular emphasis on empowering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and supporting their role in the growing clean energy ecosystem.

Together, these objectives will help position the EU and GCC as mutually reinforcing partners in the global fight against climate change, while generating new opportunities for sustainable growth and investment.

Who Should Attend?

The Forum is designed for those at the forefront of shaping the green transition. It will bring together a diverse community of leaders and innovators, including:

Government & Policy Leaders – Ministers, senior officials, and regulators from the EU and GCC shaping climate, energy, and sustainability agendas.
Industry Champions – Global and regional companies driving advancements in renewable energy, hydrogen, critical raw materials, and clean technologies.
Financial Institutions & Investors – Sovereign wealth funds, banks, and green finance pioneers mobilising capital for sustainable projects.
SMEs & Innovators – Entrepreneurs and technology providers contributing to new business models and solutions for the clean energy value chain.
International Organisations & Think Tanks – Key institutions and research centres facilitating knowledge exchange, policy innovation, and global cooperation.

This unique mix of stakeholders ensures the Forum serves as a powerful platform for dialogue, partnership, and business development, bridging policy ambitions with real-world action.

Why You Should Attend

The Forum offers a unique opportunity to be part of the flagship EU-GCC platform on the green transition. By attending, you will:

Gain first-hand insights from senior EU and GCC policymakers, industry leaders, and global organisations on strategies driving the clean energy shift.
Discover high-value investment opportunities in hydrogen, renewables, critical raw materials, and sustainable finance across both regions.
Learn from concrete case studies of successful policies, projects, and partnerships that are setting the pace for the energy transition.
Connect directly with decision-makers and business leaders, building valuable partnerships across the EU, GCC, and wider MENA region.
Contribute to shaping the future of EU-GCC cooperation, ensuring your organisation plays a role in advancing collective climate and sustainability goals.

The Forum is not just a dialogue — it is a catalyst for action, bringing together the ideas, expertise, and investment needed to accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy.

Main Topics Covered

The Forum will dive into four interconnected themes that are central to advancing the EU-GCC partnership in the green transition:

A. Clean Energies – From Ambition to Action
How can Europe, the GCC, and the wider MENA region work together to rapidly scale renewable energy? This session will explore regulatory frameworks such as carbon pricing and emission trading schemes, the role of public-private partnerships in financing large-scale projects, and how to establish a green business ecosystem as a key enabler of the transition.

B. The Future of Hydrogen – Bridging EU-GCC Markets
Hydrogen is fast becoming the backbone of clean energy trade. Discussions will focus on strengthening hydrogen corridors between the EU and MENA, creating bankable projects through the right policy incentives, and scaling up hydrogen applications in aviation, shipping, and steel production to meet industrial decarbonisation needs.

C. Resilient Supply Chains & Energy Security
The transition demands secure and resilient value chains. This theme will look at the role of critical raw materials — how to secure them, expand exploration, and develop processing capabilities — as well as building diversified clean tech supply chains that bolster energy security and open up new EU-GCC business opportunities.

D. Mobilising Green Finance & Investments
Financing is the bridge between ambition and action. This session will address how to unlock capital for the transition through the EU’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy and the GCC’s green sukuk initiatives, the role of banks, sovereign wealth funds, and investors in driving large-scale projects, the importance of engaging SMEs in the value chain, and how AI and digital transformation can transform the monitoring of sustainable investments.

Expected Outcomes

The Forum will deliver concrete outcomes that strengthen the EU-GCC partnership and create pathways for long-term collaboration, including:

Stronger policy alignment between the EU and GCC on energy transition, clean technologies, and climate action.
Expansion of hydrogen partnerships and financing mechanisms, accelerating the development of cross-regional hydrogen corridors and industrial applications.
Identification of investment opportunities in renewable energy, critical raw materials, and circular economy projects that drive economic diversification and sustainable growth.
Deeper business-to-business engagement, connecting EU and GCC companies — from major players to SMEs — to unlock new ventures in clean energy and green finance.

By generating these outcomes, the Forum will serve as a catalyst for policy innovation, investment flows, and technology partnerships, ensuring that both regions remain at the forefront of the global green transition.

Join Us

Be part of the 2nd EU-GCC Green Transition Forum on 6 October 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — the region’s flagship platform for advancing clean energy, sustainable investment, and EU-GCC cooperation.

Whether you are a policy leader, industry executive, investor, innovator, or researcher, this is your opportunity to engage directly with decision-makers, explore new business opportunities, and help shape the future of the green transition across Europe, the GCC, and the wider MENA region.

Register now to secure your place at this high-level event and contribute to building the partnerships and ecosystems that will power a sustainable future.