A week in the life of…Ivano Iannelli

Sunday
The first day of the week is a creative day and I hold think-tank meetings with the team, addressing strategy and the consulting issues required in sectors like waste, economic growth, green transport and green investments. In the afternoon I speak with my seven-year-old son, as he finishes school around this time and he tells me about his day. After a quick break to focus on personal calls I hold another round of meetings, one of which is with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. I spend time there catching up with people and hearing about new projects and possible activities.

Monday
My first engagement is a 9am trip to the Roads and Transport Authority to discuss the weekly progress of our advisory project with them. The RTA is a model in project management and I have been involved in ensuring their compliance with Dubai Carbon’s measures. I then focus on office work and spend the remainder of the day planning workshops and events with different teams. These include launching one of our publications and conducting a training workshop for our ‘carbon ambassadors’ – students who want to be at the forefront of sustainable changes within the United Arab Emirates. We then conduct an inter-departmental meeting to discuss what we are working on and come up with ideas for new projects.

Tuesday
I often find my presence requested at short notice and today I am asked to attend the opening of an event on sustainable energy. I am the equivalent of a wedding crasher, sneaking my way into the Majilis and following the VIP delegates to the front rows. After this, I focus on publications and strategies. Our organisation has a large demand for sustainability reporting, which helps provide our stakeholders with a pragmatic strategy.

Wednesday
Today, like most Wednesdays, is very demanding. This is the day I normally travel to another Gulf Cooperation Council country to hold workshops and discuss further collaboration. The destination is Bahrain, where the DCCE team meets with the minister of energy, Dr Abdulhussain Bin Ali Mirza, to launch our new project with the United Nations Environment Programme. The project aims to provide support for the implementation of a national greenhouse gas reporting system.

Thursday
I take an early morning flight back to Dubai and enjoy a more casual Thursday, using some of my time to visit project sites. Dubai Carbon has recently started consultancy work in distributed solar (rooftops) and currently has 12 mW of projects under development. It is great to see some of the projects in action: in some cases, we managed a 20 per cent discount on current benchmarked tariffs. I reschedule some of my missed meetings and put an end to the working week.

Friday
Today is for leisure and I spend time de-stressing. I love cooking and my kitchen is large, so I take some time to relax there. I do not think about work and only answer calls from friends. I catch up on all the television series that have piqued my interest, such as Blindspot, Lucifer and iZombie, and enjoy an activity or two with my son. He is my weekend priority and today we go to a skateboarding park and watch a movie.

Saturday
Saturday is the day I play catch up. I do the grocery shopping, spend time with friends I have overlooked and end the weekend on a positive note. It gives me a chance to look forward to the week ahead.