The UAE has led a major international operation against environmental crimes in the Amazon Basin, resulting in 94 arrests and the seizure of assets valued at more than $64 million.
The 14-day effort, Operation Green Shield, was a multinational investigation co-ordinated by the Emirates with Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru.
Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, said authorities in the Amazon dismantled criminal networks accused of destroying protected ecosystems and shut down 350 criminal operations.
The arrests were carried out under the UAE's Law Enforcement for Climate programme, which was launched at Cop28 in Dubai in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Climate leader
It comes as part of the Emirates’ wider push on climate action.
In May, the UAE issued its climate law to establish a legal framework for climate resilience and greenhouse gas emissions accountability.
And in June, leading figures gathered in the UAE to sound the alarm ahead of the next major round of UN climate talks at Cop30, in Brazil, set to take place in November.
Majid Al Suwaidi, chief of climate investment vehicle Alterra, warned that the talks are up against “significant challenges”.
“To date, only 15 updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) have been submitted,” Mr Al Suwaidi said.
While the original deadline was February, a revised cutoff in September is now the last window to submit updated pledges before Cop30 opens in Belem, Brazil, in November. Both Brazil and the UAE laid out robust NDCs ahead of the initial February deadline.
History made
At Cop28 in Dubai, held in November and December 2023, the historic UAE Consensus was agreed.
The agreement calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner … so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science”.
President Sheikh Mohamed said the conference provided “significant results” and vowed to push ahead in search of a “more sustainable future for our planet”.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, also hailed the success of the conference.
“The conference has set new standards in climate action and solidified the UAE's position as a key player in building a sustainable future for the planet,” he said.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President, said it was a “historic agreement” but was only as good as its “implementation”.
“We are what we do, not what we say,” he said. “We must take the steps necessary to turn this agreement into tangible action.”
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.”
