The smog over Beijing became a global news story in January, and the level of pollutants in the capital’s air increased by almost 30 per cent in the first three months of this year.
The “airpocalypse” in the early months of the year was a by-product of rapid industrialisation, of over-reliance on coal for energy production and of the country’s growth in car ownership.
China’s economic growth in the past three decades has been the envy of the world, but the environment has paid a heavy price.
The World Bank reckons 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in China, and the government is facing mounting public criticism that it is not doing enough to fend off potential environmental catastrophe.
The January smog prompted a serious change in government attitudes, with new rules for car ownership, greater accountability for environmental crimes and a focus on cleaning up the air.
Most of the initial measures were local. The Beijing government ordered some cars off its roads, including state vehicles, shutting factories and recommending its 20 million residents avoid outdoor activities as air pollution.
Then last month, things really got serious, when the Chinese government set a target of growing the annual output of the country’s environmental industries to 4.5 trillion yuan (Dh2.69tn) by the middle of 2015. That means the sector would expand by 15 per cent annually over the next three years.
The national development and reform commission reckons cleaning China’s air will cost a hefty 1.7tn yuan over the next five years, with much of that going on transferring energy production from coal to gas power plants and by installing air cleaners at power stations and factories.
The government has also set a target of cutting emissions intensity in key industries, or emissions per unit of economic output, by 30 per cent by the end of 2017.
China has set a target of reducing its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 per cent by 2020 from the 2005 level and raising non-fossil energy consumption to 15 per cent of its energy mix, says Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the national development and reform commission.
As part of broader plans to curb pollution, the government will also roll out tiered power pricing for eight energy intensive industries, while sectors that struggle with overcapacity will face higher power tariffs, Mr Xie says.
China asked seven cities and provinces last year to put in place regional caps and pilot programmes for trading emission rights and the government will expand the programme to more cities starting from 2015, with the aim of creating a national market, he adds.
The government plans to have 100 gigawatts of wind-power installed capacity and more than 35 gigawatts of solar power by 2015, says Mr Xie.
The moves from the government have inspired companies to act - China Petrochemical or Sinopec has said it will invest 22.9 billion yuan on an environmental protection plan.
The government is making renewed efforts to encourage heavy polluting industries to clean up their act. At the end of July the government ordered hundreds of companies in the metals, paper, leather and battery industries to close obsolete production lines.
Wang Tao, an official with the pollution prevention department under the ministry of environmental protection, told the Xinhua news agency an airborne pollution prevention and control action plan was in the works.
Mr Wang added that an estimated 2tn yuan would be put in to enhance monitoring of drinking water sources and control poisonous contaminants.
He said the output value of the energy conservation and environmental protection industry during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011 to 2015) was expected to exceed 10tn yuan, a more than 40 per cent increase compared to the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010).
Ma Jun is among China’s foremost environmentalists. The writer, journalist and activist is the founder of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, which seeks to take on the polluters and raise public awareness.
“The Chinese economy has developed a lot but the environmental protection hasn’t followed up. The demand is big and there is long-term need to develop environmental industries. Growth in the environmental industries of 15 per cent is possible, but will this expansion really solve environmental issues?” says Mr Ma.
“The development of the environmental industries has the support of economic policy, subsidies and government promotion. The government must strictly enforce policy and regulations to stir up the real needs.”
He believes environmental standards including for air, water, and soil are being better implemented.
“The government is enforcing stricter standards. For example, stricter air control. They have put some new pollutants in the index. Also stricter standards on textile industry,” Mr Ma says.
“There is a need for the energy structure to be changed, better control of pollutants and improvements in recycling.
“All of the environment related industries will benefit from the change in rules, such as clean tech, business involved in controlling pollutants, exhaust fumes, clean fuel for motor vehicles and the water pollution control industry,” adds Mr Ma.
He believes the government has changed its attitude largely because of a new understanding about the environment.
“Before, everybody thought if we were poor, we had to develop economy. However, now, public health is more important, such as food safety,” he says,
“Secondly, because of social stability. There were a couple of mass incidents which affected local economy. Thirdly, as the number one carbon emitting nation, there is a lot of pressure from the rest of the world.
“The government says it will take 18 years to reach normal international standards.
“However, the social force is big and people are pushing it very hard because people don’t want to wait that long to get clean air.” Mr Ma says.
So I think it might take less time than 18 years.”
business@thenational.ae
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: OneOrder
Started: March 2022
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo
Number of staff: 82
Investment stage: Series A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
The cost of Covid testing around the world
Egypt
Dh514 for citizens; Dh865 for tourists
Information can be found through VFS Global.
Jordan
Dh212
Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.
Cambodia
Dh478
Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.
Zanzibar
AED 295
Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.
Abu Dhabi
Dh85
Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.
UK
From Dh400
Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.
AL BOOM
Director:Assad Al Waslati
Starring: Omar Al Mulla, Badr Hakami and Rehab Al Attar
Streaming on: ADtv
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.5-litre, turbocharged 5-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 400hp
Torque: 500Nm
Price: Dh300,000 (estimate)
On sale: 2022
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Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Yango Deli Tech
Based: UAE
Launch year: 2022
Sector: Retail SaaS
Funding: Self funded
SPEC SHEET: APPLE M3 MACBOOK AIR (13")
Processor: Apple M3, 8-core CPU, up to 10-core CPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Display: 13.6-inch Liquid Retina, 2560 x 1664, 224ppi, 500 nits, True Tone, wide colour
Memory: 8/16/24GB
Storage: 256/512GB / 1/2TB
I/O: Thunderbolt 3/USB-4 (2), 3.5mm audio, Touch ID
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Battery: 52.6Wh lithium-polymer, up to 18 hours, MagSafe charging
Camera: 1080p FaceTime HD
Video: Support for Apple ProRes, HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10
Audio: 4-speaker system, wide stereo, support for Dolby Atmos, Spatial Audio and dynamic head tracking (with AirPods)
Colours: Midnight, silver, space grey, starlight
In the box: MacBook Air, 30W/35W dual-port/70w power adapter, USB-C-to-MagSafe cable, 2 Apple stickers
Price: From Dh4,599
Dengue fever symptoms
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Asia Cup Qualifier
Venue: Kuala Lumpur
Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6: Final
Asia Cup
Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Schedule: Sep 15-28
Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez
Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
Kill Bill Volume 1
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Uma Thurman, David Carradine and Michael Madsen
Rating: 4.5/5
ARM IPO DETAILS
Share price: Undisclosed
Target raise: $8 billion to $10 billion
Projected valuation: $60 billion to $70 billion (Source: Bloomberg)
Lead underwriters: Barclays, Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase and Mizuho Financial Group
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
RACE SCHEDULE
All times UAE (+4 GMT)
Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm
Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm
Sunday, October 1
Race: 11am - 1pm