Celebrating the Impact of the Climate Hub at Heriot-Watt University in Dubai

That the Parliament congratulates Heriot-Watt University on the official opening of its Dubai campus on 30 November 2023; highlights that the state-of-the-art facility was opened by His Majesty King Charles III, who was also accompanied by the First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf; celebrates that Heriot-Watt University was the first British university to open a campus in Dubai in 2005, and has since become the largest international university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); understands that the campus caters to nearly 5,000 students from 115 nationalities; further understands that the official opening took place during the COP28 conference, which was hosted in the UAE; congratulates the University on the impact of its Climate Hub at the campus, which ran alongside COP28; notes that the Climate Hub offered a schedule of daily events, including expert discussions, and served as a hub for bilateral meetings between officials from many countries, including for the UK and Scottish governments; acknowledges that events included the Cleantech exhibition, which showcased innovative technologies and solutions to address climate change, including the world's first self-assembled, flat-packed solar thermal collector from Heriot-Watt spinout company, SolarisKit, or Smartrawl, a robotic underwater sorting device that uses artificial intelligence to improve fishing methods; commends what it sees as Heriot-Watt’s deep expertise in sustainability research, with specialisms in areas including industrial decarbonisation, energy transition, sustainable logistics, sustainable building design and plastics in the environment, which were also displayed at the Research Showcase at the Climate Hub; further commends Heriot-Watt University for fostering significant international collaborations and long-standing connectivity to business and industry across all of its campuses in Scotland, Dubai and Malaysia, and wishes the campus, staff and students further successes in addressing the climate crisis and other global challenges.