United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for more action while releasing a report outlining the three main threats to mankind. UNTV via AP
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for more action while releasing a report outlining the three main threats to mankind. UNTV via AP
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for more action while releasing a report outlining the three main threats to mankind. UNTV via AP
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for more action while releasing a report outlining the three main threats to mankind. UNTV via AP

Mankind's 'war on nature’ driving 3°C heat spike, UN warns


James Reinl
  • English
  • Arabic

The UN on Thursday warned that mankind’s “war on nature” was wiping out whole species, polluting the atmosphere and pushing temperatures up by a dangerous 3 degrees Celsius this century.

A report, Making Peace with Nature, presents evidence of three dangers – climate change, pollution, and the loss of plant and animal species, or biodiversity – and explains how to mitigate this triple threat.

The 168-page study also features new findings on the emergence of Covid-19 and other so-called zoonotic diseases, which are linked to mankind encroaching ever deeper into forests and other animal habitats.

“For too long, we have been waging a senseless and suicidal war on nature,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters.

“The bottom line is that we need to transform how we view and value nature. We must reflect nature’s true value in all our policies, plans and economic systems.”

The report was released amid the latest example of headline-making harsh weather – a winter storm across the southern US that brought deadly freezing winds, snow and ice to areas that seldom see such frigid conditions.

It paints a bleak picture of a planet struggling to support an ever-growing population that extracts coal, oil and other resources, destroys habitats and pumps out heat-trapping gases that raise the odds of storms, forest fires and sea-level rise.

More than 1 million of Earth’s estimated 8 million plant and animal species are close to extinction, while pollution causes the early deaths of some 9 million people each year, said Mr Guterres.

Worse still, the planet is headed for at least 3°C of global warming this century, he added.

This is far above the targets agreed in the 2015 Paris accord, which aimed to keep global warming under 2°C over pre-industrial times and to strive to limit temperature rises to 1.5°C.

Mr Guterres said there was still time to get back on track.

The US will on Friday re-enter the Paris climate deal, after President Joe Biden reversed a decision by his predecessor, Donald Trump, to exit the accord, raising hopes of greater global momentum on emissions cuts.

The UN chief will mark the re-entry at a virtual event with Mr Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry.

Washington is now committed to effectively cutting carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

That means “countries producing two-thirds of global carbon pollution are pursuing the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Mr Guterres.

“If adopted by every country, city, financial institution and company around the world, a global coalition for carbon neutrality by 2050 can still prevent the worst impacts of climate change.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on February 23 chair virtual UN Security Council talks on the links between climate change and war.

The UK will in November host the review conference of the Paris agreement in Glasgow.

Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, Unep, said public pressure and bold policymaking could galvanise efforts to cut carbon emissions and raise cash to innovate our way out of a looming catastrophe.

“In showing how the health of people and nature are intertwined, the Covid-19 crisis has underlined the need for a step-change in how we view and value nature,” said Ms Andersen.

“Green recovery plans for pandemic-hit economies are an unmissable opportunity to accelerate the transformation.”

If you go

The flights

There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.

The trip

Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.

The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.

 

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

RESULT

Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
Al Ain: Caio (5', 73'), El Shahat (10'), Berg (65'), Khalil (83'), Al Ahbabi (90' 2)

Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule

Thursday December 27

Men's quarter-finals

Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm

Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm

Women's exhibition

Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm

Friday December 28

5th place play-off 3pm

Men's semi-finals

Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm

Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm

Saturday December 29

3rd place play-off 5pm

Men's final 7pm

LAST-16 EUROPA LEAGUE FIXTURES

Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)

FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm

Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm

Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm

Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm 

Thursday

Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm

Sevilla v Roma  (one leg only)  8.55pm

FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm 

Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm 

MATCH INFO

Schalke 0

Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')

Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)

WHAT ARE NFTs?

     

 

    

 

   

 

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.

 

An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.

 

This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.

 

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.”

MATCH INFO

Newcastle 2-2 Manchester City
Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 0-1 West Ham
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth
Southampton v Watford (late)