Eva Ramos, pictured at the Environment Agency, has noticed awareness of sustainability issues on the part of organisations.
Eva Ramos, pictured at the Environment Agency, has noticed awareness of sustainability issues on the part of organisations.

Green lessons begin in her Abu Dhabi home



ABU DHABI // Eva Ramos is in the daily habit of reminding her six-year-old daughter Lucai to turn off the tap when she brushes her teeth.
The effort may have a limited effect in a country that has one of the world's highest water consumption rates, she said, but it is not just Lucai's attitude towards resources that she wants to adjust.
The senior sustainability specialist for the capital's environment agency, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) provides training and support for numerous organisations to manage their environmental, economic and social impact.
The biggest challenge is highlighting the costs of the region's sudden economic development, she said. The country has one of the highest ecological footprints in the world.
"We live in a mirage and forget that our ecological system here is very limited, so we need to use these things in a very wise way for future generations, otherwise we will leave them with nothing," she said.
"The Government alone cannot change the other social problems we are facing, such as the high unemployment rate or labour practices, unless companies and citizens participate in resolving these issues.
"My job is to coordinate these efforts," she said.
Mrs Ramos' main focus is managing the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group, which was created in 2008 by EAD and the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. The group works with 21 government agencies, private companies and non-profit organisations, with several others in the process of joining.
The group members are required to submit an annual report that explains their management approach and measures their sustainability performance.
Mrs Ramos, who grew up in Alicante in Spain, has advised similar projects in developing and emerging countries around the world for more than 15 years. She moved to the UAE two years ago after working for a private Spanish foundation. She was also working as an independent consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank on a cluster of projects in Latin America.
Mrs Ramos, 43, lives in Dubai with her daughter and husband, Jesus, who manages a consultancy firm and works mostly in Saudi Arabia.
She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Universitat d'Alacant in Spain, and later a degree in development studies from University of Sussex.
She met her husband while the two were college students working in Turkey for the student-run leadership organisation, Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales. That trip to Turkey, as well as her studies and experiences working on development projects in Mexico and the Philippines, led her to pursue sustainability.
"I've always wanted to improve and change things, and I saw how that kind of work was a way to contribute to the world that I live in," she said.
As she evaluates the habits of local companies and government departments, she has noticed awareness on their parts. She expects a proposed increase in utility prices to have a huge impact on waste and consumption levels, for example, and has seen evidence of improved labour conditions.
However, changes are difficult to measure. Solving an ecological problem, for instance, could have social or economic implications, she said.
"It is an ongoing path, not a destination," agreed Belinda Scott, assistant manager of corporate social responsibility at Mubadala Development Company, which joined the group this year.
"When you touch on one of the three dimensions of economic, environmental or social issues, one will usually have an effect on another and you often have to go back and find the right balance. Eva is able to do that with great focus."
When the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) introduced talking automated teller machines and payroll cards to ensure fair and timely payments of labour wages, for example, they later had to consider incorporating more languages and pictures for the service to be effective and fair, explained Ms Scott.
She was the corporate social responsibility officer at NBAD up until a couple of months ago, and has worked closely with Mrs Ramos in both positions.
"These kinds of things take time and testing, and Eva has been a wealth of information and ideas for approaching similar issues," she said.
Mohammad Yousif al Jawdar, director of the AED's policy and strategy sector, credits Mrs Ramos with building up the group's membership.
"Eva's clarity amid all of the noise has helped her to create good relationships, sharing what she knows with our members," he said.
"She brings new ideas and, I believe, the missing pieces that will help us complete this sustainability puzzle."
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Company profile

Name: Infinite8

Based: Dubai

Launch year: 2017

Number of employees: 90

Sector: Online gaming industry

Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor

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.”

Graduated from the American University of Sharjah

She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters

Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks

Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding