Politics and Governance

The event on The State of American Democracy will be held on 12 January 2022.

Chatham House Event will organise this event where the members will reflect upon the past year’s controversial elections in the US and the victory of President Joe Biden. Important issues like voter fraud and polarisation between parties will be discussed in the light of American democracy. The experts will try to answer important questions that include: faith in the US democracy, the future course of the Republican Party, the impact of Biden’s administration on American image globally, and Joe Biden and his agenda. It will be an online event and open to Chatham House members only.

CADCA’s National Leadership Forum 2022- Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America is set to happen on 31 January 2022.

This will be a four-day event attended by many young people who would gather at Capitol Hill events to hear from the policymakers and experts and learn new strategies to combat substance use. The event is held every year in Washington, and participants usually include government leaders, addiction treatment professionals, educators, researchers, law enforcement officials and youth.

Defence and Security

Weapon and Tactics Industry (WEPTAC) Trade Show will be held in Las Vegas from 12- 13 January 2022.

The Combat Air Force (CAF) Weapon and Tactics Industry (WEPTAC) is held annually and runs for two weeks. The event brings hundreds of fighters of war from CAF in order to have a discussion on issues that are faced currently, the issues that might be faced in the future and the opportunities that can be provided to the forces in terms of employment. The attendance of important figures of the Air force personnel, including Marine, Navy and Army, is imperative to the event. The participation in the event has been phenomenal, which encourages the motto of the movement, which is joint warfighting. The event will be hosted by the United States Warfare Centre and will be run by the Air Combat Command Directorate of Operations.

DSEI Japan which was set to happen from 26- 28 January 2022, has been postponed due to the new travel restrictions in the wake of the new Omicron variant.

The event would have been the second edition and aimed to bring global security and defence with Japan and other Asian defence communities under one roof for three days where they would discuss ways to partner, innovate and share knowledge. However, the new travel restrictions have restrained anyone from visiting Japan, and therefore, the Clarion Defence and Security and Crisis Intelligence have agreed to postpone the event. The new date for the event will be decided once the conditions are favourable.

Energy and Environment

World Future Energy Summit 2022 will be held in Abu Dhabi from 17- 19 January 2022.

The event will be hosted by Masdar while RX Middle East will organise it. It will be the 14^th annual event which will focus on sustainability and will present ways for a better transition to clean energy. The latest innovations and technologies will also be presented at the Summit, and the best ones will be placed to practice. Many famous brands like Huawei, Acciona, Jinko Solar, Engie and DNV GL, along with others, will join and have the opportunity to present their innovations to businesses, investors and governments. The event will position Abu Dhabi as a business hub linking Asia, Africa, and Europe. The event will provide grounds for 11 countries to present their innovative ideas to the world. These countries include China, Germany, Japan, France, India, Korea, Italy, Nigeria, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria.

EcoWASTE Exhibition and Forum 2022 will return to Abu Dhabi for the 8^th Edition on 17 and 19 January 2022.

The event will focus on the management of sustainable waste and the circular economy. It will be an attempt of a continued effort to remain focused on the circular economy model and the ways to attain it. The need for new ways to waste management that includes re-processing, re-cycling and reusing, and reducing will be discussed. Moreover, practical ways to reduce the excessive use of plastic will also be discussed. All the concerned stakeholders, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and sponsors from the Middle East and North Africa will attend the event. It will host experts like Ronald Richa, GM Plastic Recycling, Veola, Pablo Arribere Jimenez, Senior Director Operational Excellence and Innovation and Youssef Chehade, Managing Partner, who will speak on manufacturing, packaging and present diverse waste management services. Many innovative industries, Green Mountains, Dulevo, Thor ME and Al Shiraway Group, German Distribution, and Gorica Group and MG Recycling, will also be a part of this event.

Trade and Economics

World Economic Forum which was set to happen in January, is postponed due to the rise in Omicron Infections.

This will be the third time that the event has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The last time it was the wave of Covid-19 infections in Europe that led to the postponement of the event, it was rescheduled to take place in August in Singapore. However, due to the increase in infection in Asia, it was cancelled again. The meeting was set to happen in January 2022 but due to the rise in the new variant, Omicron, resulting in lockdown and travel restrictions, the meeting is postponed until another date is agreed upon. The founder of WEF, Klaus Schwab, said in a briefing that, “Public-private cooperation has moved forward throughout the pandemic and that will continue apace. We look forward to bringing global leaders together in person soon.”

Cloud Tech News, Virtual Hybrid Cloud Event, will be held on 18 January 2022.

The event will be held virtually and will focus on developing a single strategic hybrid cloud that can unify IT resources and business, which will result in accelerated business outcomes, ultimately achieving cloud excellence. More than five hundred IT Directors and Cloud specialists will participate in the event. There will be a discussion on different topics, including: management, facts, Customer Security, Security and governance of the hybrid cloud. Moreover, the speakers who will take part in the event are Leanne Starace from Equinix, Fernando Velazquez from Walmart, Vladimir Bacvanski from Paypal, David Terrar from Cloud Industry Forum, Praveen Moturu from Mars, Scott Robinson from Cooperative, Konstantin Denishev from TSB bank, Luiz Gondim from Anheuser-Busch InBev and Jonathan Seeing from Ridge.

Social Issues

The Resumed Sessions of CDB SBSTTA 24, SBI 3 and WG2020-3, which was to resume in January 2022, is postponed due to Omicron Variant.

The 24^th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 24), the 3^rd meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 3) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Open-ended Working Group on the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (WG2020-3) were all set to take place in January 2022. However, the Secretariat stated that all these meetings are postponed for now and will be rescheduled later in the year. The reason for the postponement is the fast-spreading of the Omicron variant that has once again brought the world to its knees.

2022 Travelling in a New Vegan World Summit will be held from 15- 31 January 2022.

The event is organised by the Vegan Travel Association, which is a team of professional travellers who support travel businesses and travellers who classify themselves as vegan or plant-based. It will take place on Hey Summit, which is a global software platform to host events, talks, summits and conferences. The member organisations include Green Earth Travel, Vegan Vacations, Veg Voyages, Vegan Travel Club, World Vegan Travel, Margie Travels and Jennifer Kern-Kaminsky, CTA. Jason McGregor, the owner of Vegan Vacation, explained that “Vegan travel means you will not be faced with any element of your vacation having an adverse action on animal life – no leather chairs in the room, no feather pillows or comforters on the bed, no “tested on animal” hygiene products in the bathroom and dining options that are designed to support vegan health. The days of only accommodating vegans by removing elements from regular menu items are behind us”. More than 40 speakers and presentations will be part of the Summit which will focus to educate on vegan travel and discuss ways to improve it.