Sustainability Western Australia looks to Gulf for green deals The state of Western Australia – the heart of the country’s mining, steel and oil and gas industries – is planning partnerships with Arab nations to develop its renewables sector and curb emissions. “We’ve got a dual mission,” Reece Whitby, Western Australia’s minister for environment and climate action, told AGBI during Cop28 in Dubai. “We’ve […] December 12, 2023
Video length: 06:23 EXCLUSIVE Renewable Energy Nuclear ‘arrives too late’ to halt climate emergency Nuclear energy will not help the world meet its urgent target to limit global warming, according to the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Francesco La Camera, director-general of Abu Dhabi-based Irena, told AGBI the significance of nuclear power in fighting climate change had been overstated. “Nuclear does not serve the climate change agenda […] December 7, 2023
Sustainability Nations pledge to cut cooling emissions by 68% by 2050 More than 60 countries have backed a pledge at Cop28 to cut air conditioning and related emissions by 68 percent of 2022 levels by 2050. They did so as a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) found that global cooling capacity will treble by then. The Global Cooling Pledge marks the world’s first collective focus on […] December 5, 2023
Video length: 06:23 Banking & Finance How banks are navigating fossil fuel financing Banks are navigating a complex battleground over fossil fuel phase-out: deciding whether or not to fund companies in oil and gas and other high-emitting sectors, they told a Dubai event staged in parallel with the Cop28 summit. The chief executive of ING, the Netherlands’ biggest retail bank, said the company had stopped providing dedicated finance […] December 4, 2023
Exclusive Energy Shift fossil fuel subsidies to renewables, says lobby chief Ramping up renewables while increasing oil output “sends the wrong signal” and is not the best way to tackle climate change, says the chief executive of Global Renewables Alliance, a policy group representing the clean energy industry. “Yes, the two can be done in parallel,” Bruce Douglas told AGBI at Cop28 in Dubai. “But we […] December 4, 2023
Health UAE president expands fund to fight tropical diseases Reaching the Last Mile – a global philanthropic health initiative by UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan – has increased the size of its flagship fund five-fold to $500 million, with $340.2 million raised to date, following donations made during Cop28. The 10-year RLM Fund was set up in 2017, in partnership […] December 4, 2023
Energy Masdar strikes $14bn UK offshore wind farm deal UAE renewables company Masdar has agreed to acquire a 49 percent stake in Germany-based RWE’s twin Dogger Bank South offshore wind projects in the UK, representing an £11 billion ($14 billion) investment, the parties said. The deal was announced at Cop28 in Dubai, as UK prime minister Rishi Sunak pledged £1.6 billion in funding towards […] December 2, 2023
Economy UAE pledges to kickstart ‘new climate economy’ The UAE has announced a package of funding initiatives aimed at mobilising finance reform to create a “climate economy” – one of the main aims of Cop28. In a speech to delegates of the UN climate summit, Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber launched the official UAE Declaration on a Global Climate Finance Framework – an […] December 1, 2023
Economy UAE’s $100m leads climate disaster fund Cop28 pledges Negotiators at Cop28 in Dubai struck the first deal of the summit on Thursday evening, officially agreeing to set up a fund to help vulnerable countries recover from damage caused by climate change. The plan to create a United Nations-led “loss and damage” fund was hailed as a breakthrough for negotiations at Cop27 in Egypt […] November 30, 2023
Energy Al Jaber flags ‘strong views’ and calls for collaboration Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber told delegates at the opening of the global climate change conference in Dubai that he was aware that there were “strong views” about the inclusion of fossil fuel companies in the discussions. In his opening remarks, the Emirati head, who is also chief executive of the state oil company Adnoc, […] November 30, 2023
Sustainability ‘Those who pledged, must act,’ says Al Jaber as Cop28 begins The United Nations’ Cop28 – the world’s biggest climate change conference – started today, with host country the UAE reiterating calls to accelerate climate action. Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber rejected claims the UAE intended to use the event to strike commercial oil and gas deals. The BBC and UK-based Centre for Climate Reporting reported […] November 30, 2023
EXCLUSIVE Sustainability Opec Fund piles up financing for wheat, wind and water The Opec Fund for International Development is on track to meet its pledges to increase grants and loans to climate-related projects, its Middle East and North Africa head has told AGBI. Musab Alomar, the fund’s director of public sector operations for Mena, said climate financing made up 33 percent of all Opec Fund approvals in […] November 30, 2023
Video length: 03:41 VIDEO Sustainability Cop28: Everything you need to know What is a Cop? The Conference of the Parties is the decision-making body of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The annual Cop summits bring together the 198 parties – 197 nations plus the European Union – that signed the UN convention to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system”. The first Cop […] November 28, 2023
Sustainability AI to help drive Middle East water reuse The International Water Management Institute is developing an AI platform to improve wastewater reuse in the Middle East and North Africa region, backed by a $1 million grant from Google. Water scarcity is a concern in the region. Almost three-quarters (73 percent) of the 1,000 UAE respondents to a recent survey listed access to clean […] November 27, 2023
EXCLUSIVE Logistics Shipping industry calls for ‘fair access’ to clean fuel Access to clean fuel is the biggest obstacle to the global shipping industry achieving its decarbonisation goals, but the Gulf region could play a key role in addressing this, according to the head of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). The high-emitting shipping sector has historically burned “the kind of fuel nobody else wants” – […] November 27, 2023
Sustainability Shoppers ‘will pay premium for sustainable products’ Consumers are willing to pay more to be sustainable, a study has found, even as most businesses remain far from meeting their environmental goals. A survey of 23,000 global consumers by management consultancy Bain & Company found that 64 percent of respondents reported high levels of concern about the environment. Most said their worries had […] November 21, 2023
Economy US-China tensions among risks facing Middle East The divide between China and the US is one of the top five global risks facing businesses in the coming year, according to consultancy Control Risks. But commentators said the Middle East would continue to engage economically and politically with both superpowers, with little negative impact on trade flows. Control Risks’ annual “RiskMap” forecast highlights […] November 20, 2023
Renewable Energy UAE opens world’s largest single-site solar plant The UAE’s Al Dhafra project – described by its developers as the world’s largest single-site solar power plant – has been formally inaugurated, with an annual production capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). The Al Dhafra solar PV (photovoltaic) plant is located 35 kilometres from Abu Dhabi’s capital city. It can generate enough electricity to power […] November 17, 2023
Sustainability UAE may revise climate strategy after subpar ranking The UAE is keen to update its strategy on climate change after an independent research group ranked it “insufficient”, the Gulf state’s climate change and environment minister Mariam Almheiri has said. “Going from highly insufficient to insufficient was, let’s say, a step in the right direction, but we’re still striving for more,” Almheiri told reporters, […] November 16, 2023
Real Estate Saudi-backed Oryx plans logistics centre in UK Oryx Real Estate Partners, a UK-based investment and asset manager, has acquired a five-acre development site in Milton Keynes on behalf of a consortium of GCC family offices, mainly from Saudi Arabia. The company, whose chairman and co-founder Fawaz Al Rahji is also chairman of Saudi family office Al Rahji Partners, plans to invest between […] November 16, 2023
DUBAI AIRSHOW Aviation Unmanned flights brace for take-off in Dubai Terrifying to some, exciting to others, the launch of self-flying commercial aircraft in the region would represent a new chapter for the aviation industry. Unmanned aeroplanes are in the early stages of global development. But with the industry’s biggest manufacturers Boeing and Airbus testing autonomous systems and craft, the concept is inching closer to revolutionising […] November 16, 2023
Sustainability Think tank crowdsources ideas to battle climate change A UAE think tank has launched a crowdsourcing platform to find ideas to tackle climate change. Climate Call is an initiative of UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators (UICCA), an organisation set up by Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family. The platform invites users from around […] November 14, 2023
