Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
November 30, 2023
In the run-up to the Cop28 global climate summit, which opens today in Dubai, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28’s President-designate, warned the world that when it comes to climate action, “there is simply no time left for delays”.
Humanity has made considerable progress in the fight against climate change since 2015, when 196 countries adopted the Paris Agreement, a legally binding treaty, at Cop21. Back then, our planet was on track to experience global warming of more than 3°C by the end of the century. Thanks to a dramatic increase in renewable energy investments, ambitious net-zero targets and a broader focusing of minds on sustainability, that figure is now something more like 2.5°C. The International Energy Agency predicts global carbon emissions to peak in this decade – not sometime in the 2040s, as per its earlier estimates.
Even as the world transitions towards renewables, other critical pathways to net zero must be pursued
Even so, the world is a long way off from the target of 1.5°C agreed in Paris, and the cost of a failure to close the gap would be catastrophic for hundreds of millions – if not billions – of people. Speaking from Dubai on the eve of the summit, Dr Al Jaber called on Cop28’s attendees to “raise the maximum ambition possible”, to bring everyone – including carbon-intensive energy companies – to the table, and to “bridge the gap between the global north and the global south”.
Today, 101 countries have set net-zero targets – plans to reduce or remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as they emit. That number must go up, but raising it – and ensuring it brings results – should involve drawing in the private sector, which is the ultimate source of the bulk of global emissions.
While reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels has understandably dominated the sustainability conversation in recent decades, oil, gas and other carbon-based sources still comprise 80 per cent of the world’s energy supply, and they will continue to be essential if the other great challenge of our time – global poverty – is to be solved. So even as the world transitions towards renewables – countries, including the UAE, are calling for a tripling of renewable energy capacity to be agreed at this Cop – other critical pathways to net zero must be pursued with equivalent vim and vigour.
Chief among these are carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and carbon capture and storage (CSS). The two approaches are related; CDR is removing CO2 from the atmosphere, whereas CSS involves capturing it – from, say, power plants or industrial sites – before it gets there and storing it away, usually underground. The technologies needed for both remain in their nascent stages, and getting to a 1.5°C world will require capacity in these areas several orders of magnitude greater than what exists today. Getting there must become a priority.
At the same time, these pathways must not be allowed to distract from or deter emissions reduction, which will inevitably remain the bedrock of the world’s climate strategy. To that end, maintaining unity and solidarity among nations towards developing their emissions goals further – even as conversations about responsibility and economic sovereignty become heated – will be crucial at this Cop. It will also be critical in the much-needed discussions around adaptation, as poorer, vulnerable and – in most cases less culpable – countries seek assistance in safeguarding their populations from rising sea levels and other climate-related challenges.
The question that will underlie all of these discussions, of course, is how to pay for all of this. “Cop28,” noted Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the summit’s governing body, “will be a finance Cop.” A “loss and damage” fund agreed at last year’s summit in Egypt must be fully funded. The greening of industries hitherto maligned must be incentivised. And the horizon on which frontier technologies currently lie must be brought into clearer view.
It is fitting, then, that this year’s climate summit should happen in a place famous for sitting at the intersection of finance and innovative thinking, and the developed and developing worlds. An inclusive Cop, bringing government, private sector, international organisations, NGOs and philanthropists is meeting at a critical time. The conditions are right for the world to change in Dubai over the next fortnight, if Cop28’s delegates are willing to seize the moment.
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
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.”
Key findings of Jenkins report
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
