Opinion Sustainability The Middle East needs a bank for climate adaptation Given Mena's high climate risk exposure, the GCC should seize the initiative November 22, 2023
Sustainability French minister hails positive steps in Cop28 negotiations France’s minister of energy transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, has hailed positive progress in climate negotiations, especially on the financial support for vulnerable countries hit by climate disasters. A final attempt to push through consensus became the most important point of the discussions ahead of the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai. Seventy ministers and 100 delegates met […] November 1, 2023
Sustainability Businesses urged to sign up to UAE’s Cop28 charter The Cop28 presidency has drawn up a Net-Zero Transition Charter to which private sector businesses can sign up to give greater credibility to their net zero strategies. The aim is to encourage the private sector to take “bolder action on climate change and commit to greater accountability in their net-zero emissions pledges,” according to a […] November 1, 2023
Renewable Energy Irena and industry leaders draw roadmap to fast-track renewables The energy transition away from fossil-based systems must be accelerated to keep global warming at bay, according to intergovernmental agency the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), headquartered in Abu Dhabi. Irena and the Cop28 presidency combined with a group of industry players – the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) – in calling for a trebling of […] October 31, 2023
Health Al Jaber: climate change health risks need more investment Cop28 participating nations must increase financing to identify and mitigate climate change’s risks to human health, the summit’s president designate Sultan Al Jaber has said. “The connection between health and climate change is evident, yet it has not been a specific focus of the Cop process – until now,” Al Jaber told the UN General […] September 19, 2023
Sustainability Al Jaber responds to first UN global climate stocktake Cop28 president designate Sultan Al Jaber has urged nations to “urgently disrupt business-as-usual” to meet climate change goals, as the UN warned in its first global climate stocktake that progress made to date has been “inadequate”. The stocktake is a comprehensive review of countries’ progress on cutting emissions since the Paris Agreement was signed in […] September 8, 2023
Renewable Energy Next $1.5bn phase of Dubai’s solar park to be ready in 2024 Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Masdar have signed an agreement to build and operate the 1,800-megawatt sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. The next phase of the world’s largest single-site solar park will cost AED5.5 billion ($1.49 billion). “This phase will power over half a million residences while reducing […] September 7, 2023
Video length: 03:55 Renewable Energy Cop28 to invest billions in African clean energy A UAE finance initiative led by Cop28 will put $4 billion direct investment and has pledged billions more into clean energy projects in Africa, the climate change summit’s president-designate Sultan Al Jaber said this week. Al Jaber told the inaugural African Climate Summit in Nairobi on Monday that the initiative – involving high-profile UAE-based investors […] September 5, 2023
Video length: 03:55 VIDEO Sustainability Who is Sultan Al Jaber? The decision to name Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber to lead the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai has been criticised, as he is also CEO of fossil fuel producer Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). However, the UAE minister of industry and advanced technology also heads renewable energy business Masdar and has other sustainable credentials that […] August 29, 2023
Sustainability Cop28 reveals programme for Dubai event The Cop28 UAE presidency has unveiled the two-week programme of topics to be discussed at the UN climate change conference on 30 November to 12 December. Cop28 will take place as a series of high-level talks alongside public discussions and other events at the Expo 2020 site in Dubai. Last month the event’s president-designate Sultan […] August 23, 2023
Sustainability Cop28 and UN to draft climate finance framework United Nations economists, the Cop28 leadership and other institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, have agreed to draw up recommendations to reform climate finance. The planned changes come amid concerns that the billions pledged by developed nations to tackle global warming are falling short. The recommendations – to be shared and discussed […] August 21, 2023
Sustainability Al Suwaidi: time to deliver on $100bn climate pledge Developed countries must stump up their agreed $100 billion a year to tackle climate change as the world is a long way off from meeting the targets set in the Paris Agreement, Cop28’s director general said in Brazil this week. “We need to invest across the board in every kind of solution that is going […] August 9, 2023
Energy Masdar chief hails ‘defining moment’ in $3bn green fund The chairman of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, better known as Masdar, has described the completion of its debut green bond issuance as a “defining moment”. The $750 million 10-year senior unsecured notes are listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and form the first part of a programme to raise up to $3 billion. […] August 7, 2023
Energy Adnoc shaves five years off net zero deadline Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has brought forward its deadline to reach net-zero carbon emissions by five years to 2045, citing its “industry-leading” progress on targets to date as the reason for the change. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohmed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, approved the state oil company’s plan to bring the net-zero deadline […] July 31, 2023
Sustainability Al Jaber calls on G20 to double climate risk finance Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber and United Nations climate executive secretary Simon Stiell urged the G20 this week to increase funding known as “adaptation finance”, for communities at risk of facing climate change-related hazards. “The G20 must affirm its commitment to [mobilising] the fund and funding arrangements. Those at the frontline of climate change need […] July 28, 2023
Renewable Energy Masdar buys 49% stake in German wind farm project UAE renewable energy company Masdar is buying a 49 percent stake in Spanish utility Iberdrola’s 476MW offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea for €375 million ($414.5 million). The Baltic Eagle wind farm is valued at €1.6 billion, with Iberdrola controlling and managing the asset and providing operation and maintenance services. Baltic Eagle consists […] July 27, 2023
Opinion Sustainability Climate change is too serious to be left to environmentalists The debate is now about means, not ends July 25, 2023
Renewable Energy Masdar and Adnoc agree trio of green hydrogen deals Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar has agreed a deal with two Japanese energy and chemicals firms to explore production of commercial-scale polypropylene made from carbon dioxide and green hydrogen in the UAE. Masdar has teamed up with Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation and Inpex Corporation, a Japanese oil and gas company. They have signed […] July 18, 2023
Renewable Energy Cop28 action plan unveiled by Al Jaber With the world in the grip of extreme weather events, Cop28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber has announced a four-pillar climate action plan ahead of the forthcoming summit. The UAE’s climate envoy went on to issue a rallying cry to delegates to build the “energy system of the future”. “We need everyone to play their part […] July 18, 2023
Opinion Sustainability The UAE has a difficult path to negotiate As Cop28 host and a major oil exporter the Emirates faces a tricky balancing act July 17, 2023
Opinion Energy UAE roadmap for Cop28: high energy, low impact There are constraints imposed by life in a maritime desert, however July 14, 2023
Banking & Finance Climate finance ‘not fit for purpose’, says Al Jaber Sultan Al Jaber, who is due to preside over the Cop28 conference later this year, has said climate finance in its current form “is not fit for purpose.” He called for the financial architecture’s “comprehensive transformation” instead of “piecemeal reform”, adding that special focus is needed to support “climate-positive development” across the global south. “Climate […] July 14, 2023
