Air travel in Europe was disrupted on Wednesday by climate activists who blocked runways and departure gates in a co-ordinated stunt.
Flights resumed after long delays and cancellations that began when campaigners cut through a fence at Germany's Cologne-Bonn Airport at 5am and glued themselves to the runway.
A runway was breached in Norway and security gates were blocked in Finland as the campaigners declared an 'international uprising' to end the use of fossil fuels.
Activists at London Heathrow and Barcelona's El Prat Airport were intercepted by police before they could disrupt air traffic.
The protests took place under the slogan Oil Kills, in a rebranded alliance between groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Britain's Just Stop Oil and Germany's Last Generation.
Organisers warned Wednesday's action was "just the start" as they seek an end to coal, oil and gas extraction by 2030 under a legally binding climate change treaty.
They said campaigners had received “training in non-violence” and would take “all possible steps” not to threaten airport safety.
The protest began at 5am when intruders with bicycles and skateboards cut through chain-link fence at Cologne-Bonn and stuck themselves to a runway.
“Airports such as this are a place of injustice. We are here demanding that governments sign a fossil fuel treaty,” said Malte Nierobisch, 21, one of five protesters at Cologne-Bonn Airport in Germany.
The German airport said flights had resumed but disruptions and cancellations “are to be expected during the course of the day” after a hole was cut in a perimeter fence.
Three people breached another fence in Oslo shortly before 6am and sat down next to the runway. Nine people blocked the security area at Helsinki, holding up a banner reading “fossil fuels are killing us”.
Roads were blocked on the way to Zurich and Geneva's airports in Switzerland, disrupting passengers as they entered the departures and arrivals terminals. Five people were arrested.
Rita Straub, a 74-year-old activist in Switzerland, said she was "ashamed of the state of the world I am leaving to my great nieces and nephews".
In Barcelona, five people were intercepted by police while taking action at El Prat Airport, with fines handed out on the spot, campaigners said.
London's Metropolitan Police said Heathrow's operations were running as normal after nine people were arrested. "These arrests have prevented significant disruption to the airport and the travelling public," it said.
More airport protests are expected this weekend, Dutch activists said. Oil Kills campaigners said airports were targeted as a “key pillar of the global fossil fuel economy”.
“By taking non-violent direct action at airports, we are disrupting business as usual on an international scale that can’t be ignored,” said the group, which calls itself an “international uprising to end oil by 2030".
The protests come days after Germany's government proposed two-year prison sentences for people convicted of disrupting air traffic.
A sentence of up to five years would be possible in cases where intruders force their way into an airport with banned objects such as a knife or toxic substance.
Activists have previously shut down Berlin's main airport, and the Last Generation is planning a new “wave of protests” this autumn.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had accused people gluing themselves to runways of putting others at risk and causing delays to tens of thousands of travellers.
In Britain, a group of Just Stop Oil protesters were sentenced to four to five years in prison last week after conspiring to block traffic on London's ring road motorway.
A judge said the “exemplary sentences” were a necessary deterrent because activists appeared to believe that the criminal law “really doesn't matter”.
“The plain fact is that each of you has some time ago crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic,” the judge said.
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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.”
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
