World

Head of UN climate panel withdraws from meeting amid harassment case

The case erupted over the past week after a court lifted a media gag order and allowed Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel-Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to apply for anticipatory bail.

NEW DELHI // The United Nations’ top climate change official will not chair a key meeting in Kenya next week following Indian police investigations over a sexual harassment case against him.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel-Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), pulled out of the meeting in Nairobi due to “issues demanding his attention”, the UN body said.

It comes after Delhi police said Mr Pachauri was accused of sexually harassing a 29-year-old female researcher from his Delhi-based think tank The Energy and Resources Institute.

The 75-year-old said on Saturday he was “committed to provide all assistance and cooperation to the authorities in their ongoing investigations”.

“A lady had lodged an FIR [first information report] against him [Pachauri] for sexual harassment ... about a week ago and the matter is under investigation,” Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

The female employee has accused Mr Pachauri of repeated inappropriate behaviour, including through emails, text and WhatsApp messages, according to police.

Mr Pachauri has denied all charges, saying his emails and mobile phone were hacked.

The case erupted over the past week after a court lifted a media gag order on Thursday and allowed Mr Pachauri to apply for anticipatory bail. Newspapers have since run full-page stories detailing alleged text-message exchanges between the IPCC chief and the woman.

Mr Pachauri had previously been in the limelight for incorrect global warming data and for authoring a racy novel which dished up sex, reincarnation and a real-life Hollywood actress.

In the past couple of years, India has seen a wave of public anger and protest over this socially conservative nation’s chronic problem with sexual harassment and violence against women. While new laws have increased prison terms for rape and made stalking, voyeurism and sexual harassment a crime, new reports of abuse are featured by newspapers almost every day.

The IPCC said that Mr Pachauri had informed them “that he will be unable to chair the plenary session of the IPCC in Nairobi next week because of issues demanding his attention in India”, and one of its vice-chairpersons would lead the Nairobi meeting which begins Tuesday.

The case comes at a time when Mr Pachauri is trying to set the table for a key climate change summit in Paris in December where world leaders are expected to broker a global treaty on tackling global warming.

The veteran climate change expert took the helm of the IPCC in 2002, accepting the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on its behalf. He has said he will not run for a third term after October.

* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press

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Name: Kumulus Water
 
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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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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.”

UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia