The high-level segment of the two-week UN climate summit opened in Egypt on Monday, with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi urging participants to be flexible in negotiations to agree that can save the planet from rising temperatures.
“The time has arrived, the time to work. There's no room for retreat or excuses. Missing the opportunity means the loss of our legacy and the future of our children and grandchildren,” said the Egyptian leader.
“This is a defining moment in the life of our planet.”
Mr El Sisi's warning came as recent scientific findings showed that current trends would mean carbon pollution increasing by 10 per cent by the end of the decade, and the Earth's surface heating up by 2.8 degrees.
The Egyptian president was the first to take to the podium as world leaders gathered to share their vision on how to save the planet. He was followed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President Sheikh Mohamed.
Nearly 50 heads of state and prime ministers are scheduled to address the summit, also known as Cop27, at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh on Monday.
"What the world needs today to pull through the current climate crisis," said Mr El Sisi.
"What our people are expecting now is effective, fast and just implementation, they expect from us real and tangible measures to reduce emissions and build a capability to adjust to the consequences of climate change.”
In his address, Mr El Sisi also made a passionate plea to world leaders to work towards ending the Russia-Ukraine war. He said the conflict has caused economic hardship to his country as well as many others.
“I call on behalf of myself and you, if you will allow me, for that war to stop; for this ruin and killing to stop.”
Mr Guterres delivered a stern warning on climate change, in keeping with his stepped-up rhetoric on the issue.
“Our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible,” he said. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator. It is unacceptable, outrageous and self-defeating to put it on the back burner.
"The science is clear: any hope of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees means achieving global net zero emissions by 2050. But that 1.5 degree goal is on life support and the machines are rattling. We are getting dangerously close to the point of no return," he said.
Sheikh Mohamed, whose country hosts Cop28 next year, said climate change had an impact on the stability and security of the world and called for efforts to be united to confront the challenge.
He said the UAE would continue to produce and export oil and gas to meet world demand. The carbon intensity of the country's oil was among the world's lowest, he said, and pledged to continue to work to reduce gas emissions in the UAE's large energy sector.
US President Joe Biden will address the two-week summit later this week.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, whose country was devastated by floods this summer, will speak on Tuesday.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has arrived in Sharm El Sheikh and was expected to address the meeting on Tuesday.
Downing Street said Mr Sunak will announce in Sharm El Sheikh that his government will give £65.5 million to a clean energy innovation facility that provides grants to researchers and scientists in developing nations who work on clean technologies.
Another £90m will go to the conservation of the Congo Basin rainforest and £65m to support communities.
Mr Sunak met Sheikh Mohamed on the sidelines of the summit on Monday.
Simon Stiell, the UN climate change executive secretary, said 110 leaders had confirmed their participation in the two-week summit. They join nearly 27,000 government representatives, about 14,000 observers and more than 3,000 media representatives, he added.
“We always want more leaders,” said Mr Stiell, alluding to earlier forecasts that as many as 200 leaders would attend. “But I believe there is sufficient (leadership) right now for us to have a very productive outcome.”
He said the summit’s Egyptian presidency had created a “very rich and innovative series of sessions” for the leaders to take part in, including round table discussions.
However, the leaders of some of the world’s main carbon emitters — China and India — decided to stay away.
Mr Stiell sought to play down the significance of their absence.
“We have a sufficient number,” he said.
This year's climate summit is being held under the cloud of a geopolitical crisis — chiefly the Russia-Ukraine war and growing rivalry between the US and China — and deepening economic woes in most parts of the world because of higher energy and food costs.
Underscoring the danger of politicising the summit, Egyptian Foreign Minister and Cop27 president Sameh Shoukry spoke on Sunday against allowing the world's crises to interfere with the summit's proceedings.
However, Cop27 got off to a flying start on Sunday, when Mr Shoukry said the thorny question of “loss and damage” funding has been formally added to the agenda, something that had proved elusive for 30 years.
The question was initially brought up by small island states to help them deal with the devastating effects of climate change, but it was shut down by wealthier nations.
Climate funding so far has focused on cutting carbon dioxide emissions in an effort to curb climate change, while about a third of it has gone towards projects to help communities adapt to the effects.
“It’s a culmination of consultations during the past year and intense consultations over the past 48 hours,” Mr Shoukry told reporters at a news conference on Sunday. “It is a very fundamental issue that must be dealt with.”
There is no agreement yet over what should count as “loss and damage” in climate disasters. Mr Shoukry refused to be drawn into what mechanisms would be put in place to implement loss and damage and how much money would be needed.
A June report by 55 vulnerable countries estimated their combined climate-linked losses over the past two decades at about $525 billion, or about 20 per cent of their collective GDP.
The introduction of loss and damage to the agenda will be of particular interest to Africa, which Egypt has selected to champion its climate change-related demands from the industrialised world.
Africa is responsible for only 3 to 4 per cent of global emissions, despite having only 17 per cent of the world’s population.
“We aim to restore the 'grand bargain' … whereby developing countries agreed to increase their efforts to tackle a crisis for which they are far less responsible, in return for appropriate financial support and other means of implementation,” Mr Shoukry wrote in a letter to parties and observers at the summit.
Egypt is not without its significant financial needs to mitigate and combat climate change.
In an updated submission to the UN this year, Egypt said it faced a $246bn funding shortfall to meet its 2030 climate targets.
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.”
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.4L / 100km
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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Napoleon
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