Britain is sorely lacking in public investment in green energy initiatives, Labour’s shadow net-zero minister Ed Miliband has said.
Speaking at the Institute for Government’s Net Zero Conference in central London on Wednesday, he said foreign investment was important, as was the need for new strategic policies to drive the expansion of green jobs and supply chains, to benefit from the infrastructure build up.
"While Britain has done well on offshore wind generation, we've done very badly on the industrial benefits," Mr Miliband said.
European neighbours including Norway, France and Denmark are powering ahead with their renewable energy generators, he noted.
“They all in different ways have driven the supply chain and jobs in the industry,” he said, adding the benefits are the result of robust industrial policies.
Using floating wind, tidal and nuclear energy as examples, Mr Miliband said there was a strong case for public investment in those areas.
He said the climate debate had shifted massively in recent years as people now saw investment in green energy not only as the wise thing to do for the environment but also for their wallets.
“The case for climate action is now definitively the case for lower bills, energy security, good jobs and of course climate leadership, in a way that wasn’t so clearly the case a decade ago,” he said.
The energy crisis that resulted from the Ukraine war demonstrated that “we are so exposed because we are so dependent on fossil fuels”, he said.
“Green energy is not some nice-to-have luxury," he added. "It’s the only route to energy security in the dangerous world in which we live in.”
He said Ireland’s Climate Minister, Eamon Ryan, put it “very well” when he said: “No one has ever weaponised access to the sun or the wind. We need to move off fossil fuels as fast as possible, for our security, for our society and for our economy.”
Mr Miliband praised US President Joe Biden’s approach to the climate agenda, particularly on the jobs front.
With an eye on next year’s election, the Democrat leader has been touring the US touting the massive amount of jobs his multibillion green package aims to bring. Between last August, when the Inflation Reduction Act passed into law, and the end of January, companies announced more than 100,000 clean energy jobs in the US, according to advocacy group Climate Power.
Mr Miliband stressed the enormous potential Britain has to open up clean energy jobs as it makes the transition from a fossil fuel-dependent society to an eco-friendly future.
“On jobs, [which] Joe Biden has shown remarkable in my view, it’s become very clear that net zero is the opportunity for the 21st century and the global race is now on.
“And here there is an absolutely crucial role for government, shaping industrial policy for the country and providing more – I think my friends in the US administration called it 'catalytic' – public investment. Catalytic because the billions in public investment levers in tens of billions or hundreds of billions of private investment.”
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
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.”
