The gathering next week in Davos of more than 2,700 business and policy leaders from 130 countries, including 52 heads of state and government, will serve as a springboard for the Cop28 climate summit being held in the UAE later this year, the World Economic Forum said on Tuesday.
The forum is also expected to sign a preliminary agreement with the UAE about the UN climate conference, which will be held at Expo City in Dubai.
“The climate and energy nexus is critical,” said forum president Borge Brende.
“There are more than 30 ministers in this field [expected to be in Davos] preparing [for] the Cop28 in UAE … we're also signing an MoU [memorandum of understanding] between the World Economic Forum and the UAE on preparations for this.
“[US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate] John Kerry will be there laying out the US strategy for climate and financing.”
The agreement with the UAE “will be critical in the sense that it's also underpinning the importance of the new technologies … for having a new breakthrough on how we produce energy and electricity globally”.
“After Cop26 and Cop27, we now need to make sure that developing countries and emerging economies can afford what is necessary when it comes to adaptation and mitigation strategies,” he added.
“So [we will be] working on both those topics [and] also with the incoming [Cop] presidency.”
Gim Huay Neo, the forum's managing director, said the annual meeting would “connect leaders to understand, focus and act on the most critical environment issues facing the world”.
“One of the key conversations at [the] annual meeting will be around the business case for climate adaptation, which highlights how we will need to deal with immediate climate realities while mitigating emissions,” she said.
Key areas of focus include getting to net zero; building a nature-positive economy; regenerating food, water and ocean systems; circular use of resources and addressing waste and pollution.
“And this builds on progress at Cop27 in Sharm el Sheikh, [Cop15] in Montreal very recently and towards Cop28 in UAE,” she said.
Recognition of the Middle East and North Africa's growing role in global affairs will also be in evidence next week, officials said.
“We have record participation from the Middle East and North Africa — we have, in fact, six heads of states and governments [and] very strong delegations … This is also reflecting the importance of the Middle East in the energy transition, in the green transition,” said Mr Brende.
“We also know that Cop27 was in Egypt … and now it's moving to [UAE] … UAE will be hosting the next trade minister meeting MC13 that will take place there [in 2024].
“Also, the Middle East is always important when it comes to investments with the sovereign wealth funds that are investing all over the world and what they set as premises for their investments.”
Held between January 16-20, the forum’s theme this year is “Co-operation in a Fragmented World”.
It returns to its regular snowy January slot for the first time since 2020, after several Covid-19 pandemic-disrupted years.
Those attending the event include Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Kristalina Georgieva, the International Monetary Fund's managing director.
China is also sending a high-level delegation and Asian leaders including South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos will also attend.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will also visit Davos.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Oxfam's executive director Gabriela Bucher, World Trade Organisation director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are also set to attend.
In addition to Mr Kerry, the US will be represented by Avril Haines, US director of National Intelligence; Secretary of Labour Martin Walsh; US Trade Representative Katherine Tai; and Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development.
Celebrities will also make the trip, including actor Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba.
On Monday, the forum announced the couple would receive the 2023 Crystal Award for “their leadership in addressing food security, climate change and environmental conservation”.
The awards ceremony will be held in Davos on the eve of the annual meeting.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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