Global efforts on climate change must adopt flexible solutions and climate action must not become an economic burden on developing nations, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, said on Saturday.
A “one-size-fits-all” approach will not work and developing nations require solutions through finance, technology, incubation, policy and regulations to tackle the challenge of climate change, he said during the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) forum in Riyadh.
“We need to accept the fact that the developing world requires a completely different set of policies and incentives. We cannot allow for climate action to become an economic burden, especially on developing nations, so we need to develop all kinds of instruments,” Dr Al Jaber said.
“It's going to take a mindset that is progressive, open, inclusive and ensures that the economics stays central in this discussion.”
Dr Al Jaber, who is also the chief executive of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, emphasised the importance of oil and gas in meeting the world's energy requirements and said that the “world has sleepwalked into a supply crunch” after under-investing in hydrocarbons over the past seven to eight years.
“We must come to terms with the realities on the ground: 80 per cent of the total energy requirements today come from fossil fuel; 60 per cent is well-presented by oil and gas. We can't just come out of nowhere and speak of energy transition and ignore or underestimate the impact of oil and gas in helping meet global energy requirements,” he said.
The UAE is committed to lowering its carbon emissions but the energy transition will take time, Dr Al Jaber said. The country said it aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
“The lowest carbon emitter and lowest cost producer will be the last barrel standing but this is going to take time, we must accept the fact that an energy transition is simply a transition and it's going to take time,” Dr Al Jaber said. “We need to be mature and sober in carrying out this discussion.
“We need to shift gears, we need to go back to the drawing board. While we accept the advancement of a very aggressive, ambitious approach towards a greener future supported by an energy mix, we must also include oil and gas because that is going to be mainstream and the spinal cord of our ability to meet the global energy requirements of the future.”
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman also said international co-operation on technology will be “the cheaper way” to implement an energy transition.
“The world cannot operate without hydrocarbons, fossil fuels, renewables, none of these will be the saver – it has to be a comprehensive solution,” the energy minister said.
The meeting global leaders at the Cop26 in Glasgow at the end of the month must be open and inclusive about what countries are doing to contribute to carbon reduction without being “facetious about what's in their tool kit”, Prince Abdulaziz said.
For a successful Cop26 meeting, “we need to answer the challenge and not challenge the answers”, Dr Al Jaber said, as he called for a more flexible approach to tackle climate change issues.
“We all see the writing on the wall, we need Cop26 to help shift the discussion to being practical, to being solution-oriented, to being determined towards providing a flexible way of conducting business. We cannot be stuck to the fact that this is a multilateral arrangement and we have to have a one-size-fits-all approach, because that won't work,” he said.
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
Scoreline:
Everton 4
Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)
Draw for Europa League last-16
Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen; VfL Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk; Inter Milan v Getafe
Sevilla v AS Roma; Eintracht Frankfurt or Salzburg v Basel; LASK v Manchester United
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
MATCH INFO
Day 1 at Mount Maunganui
England 241-4
Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28
New Zealand
Yet to bat
The specs
Price, base: Dh228,000 / Dh232,000 (est)
Engine: 5.7-litre Hemi V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 552Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.5L / 100km
The%20Super%20Mario%20Bros%20Movie
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Aaron%20Horvath%20and%20Michael%20Jelenic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Pratt%2C%20Anya%20Taylor-Joy%2C%20Charlie%20Day%2C%20Jack%20Black%2C%20Seth%20Rogen%20and%20Keegan-Michael%20Key%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now