Hiking in Ushuaia. The students were disappointed to find the glacier had melted.
Hiking in Ushuaia. The students were disappointed to find the glacier had melted.

Masdar students document Antarctic adventure



Reem Al Junaibi and Maitha Al Kaabi, students from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and members of the International Antarctica Expedition 2012 team, write about their experience.

Day 1: Reaching Ushuaia

Reaching Ushuaia was a challenge by itself. The flight was very long but worth it. We stayed one night in Buenos Aires and travelled the next morning to Ushuaia. The first glance of the city I had was from the plane. As the clouds cleared, we saw the mountains topped with snow right next to the ocean. Our journey from the Arabian desert has taken us to the southern-most city in the world.

Day 2: Hike up the glacier

We started the day after a healthy breakfast and got ready to hike up the mountain to witness the melting glacier. We were divided into groups and we had to work our way through the mountain as a team. We were guided by the '2041' team leaders every few kilometres. We hiked about 5km and reached the highest point of the climb which was about half the height of the mountain side. This activity was designed for us to work as a team because we were tied together in ropes. I was in the front leading the team and we had to make sure we all walked at the same pace. This was challenging because of the height of the mountain.

This activity is a kind of a metaphor for the real world. We can look at sustainability as the top of the mountain and ourselves as different companies or nations. We all need to reach the top but we are tied together. The only way we could reach the top was by collaboration and looking out for each other.

Polar explorer Sir Robert Swan was waiting for us near the top and motivated us to push further to reach the top. Me and Maitha successfully reached the top and it felt amazing and disappointing at the same time. It was disappointing because we witnessed how the glacier has melted and it literally became nothing but a little snow.

During our hike, we had interesting discussions about the Masdar Initiative and the one shared comment we got from everyone was how amazing and ambitious the UAE is to build a low-carbon city. We felt proud to be a part of the overall Masdar initiative and everyone in the team was inspired by this vision.

Day 3: Leaving Ushuaia

We started the day by having a meeting and a very inspirational speech by Sir Robert Swan. We discussed several issues related to sustainability in groups. I found it very interesting how everyone had a totally different opinion. Although we all gathered in Ushuaia to reach the same destination, we all have different experiences, expectations, and predictions of the future. Some people emphasized the importance of education while others focused on innovation and others on population.

We were asked to find the major issues the world is currently facing and what we need to focus on to achieve sustainability. There was no single answer. This helped me to understand why negotiations and global policies are very difficult to implement. Our 78 members could not come up with a single answer or several at least. Imagine if it were negotiating on certain policies that would affect millions.

After checking out and sending as many emails as I can from the hotel lobby (the ship had limited connection) I called my family and friends to say goodbye and then went downtown to the meeting point with Maitha and prepared to enter our new home,  the Sea Spirit. I expected bunkers and very small rooms with narrow hallways. It turned out to be the opposite. The ship was like a five-star hotel. It has a reception, gym, library, and a very nice dining room.?However, our resources were finite. For example, we have limited water, food, and essential items.

We will pass the Drake Passage and it is hard to predict how the weather will be. It is like travelling to the unknown. So we have to consume every luxury we have with utmost care. This is similar to what the world is facing. We have finite resources and we are all on a ship travelling to the unknown.

Day 4: Drake Passage

This day was one of the most difficult. Many got seasick. We were surrounded by the ocean and could not see land around us. I could see the curve of earth's crust just by standing on the ship's deck. There was nothing blocking my sight. The waves were rough and I was shocked because the crew said;  "The Drake is very good". We were warned by the organisers that the Drake Passage is the most aggressive passage any ship can go through. They say that to reach Antarctica, you have to pay the "Drake tax". We were lucky enough that the Drake was not as aggressive as it usually is.

Another thing we had to do is to "Drake-proof" all our belongings by making sure everything was secured and placed inside drawers to avoid any accidents.

During the day we had several lectures about wildlife in Antarctica. We learned about albatross and also had a chance to see some gliding by the ship. What interested me the most is that the albatross can travel up to 25,000 kilometres in six months, and, depending on the species they can live more than 60 years. These very large sea birds do not flap their wings very often to fly. Instead, they save their energy by not flapping their wings and only spread them to use the wind to fly.
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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.”

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Getting there

The flights

Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.

The stay

Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.

Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com

TO A LAND UNKNOWN

Director: Mahdi Fleifel

Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa

Rating: 4.5/5

The specs: 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn

Price, base / as tested: Dhxxx
Engine: 5.7L V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 556Nm @ 3,950rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

UAE SQUAD

Khalid Essa, Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammad Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoon Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri