Opinion Sustainability Semantic suggestions to break the Cop28 impasse Words matter if the final text is to gain endorsement from all December 11, 2023, 11:34 AM
Sustainability Dubai businesses stepped up sustainability ahead of Cop28 Dubai companies accelerated their sustainability initiatives in the run-up to the UAE’s hosting of the Cop28 summit, which commenced on Thursday. According to a survey of Dubai companies conducted by AGBI and the British Business Group (BBG), more than one quarter (26 percent) of the BBG’s 72 members said they had ramped up their sustainability initiatives in the […] December 4, 2023, 9:25 AM
Sustainability World leaders unite after UN secretary general’s warning United Nations general secretary António Guterres has issued a call to arms for hydrocarbon producers across the world and appealed for them to “lead the transition to renewables”. In his address at the opening ceremony of the UN Cop28 in Dubai on Friday morning, Guterres likened the climate challenge to a sickness that only global […] December 1, 2023, 1:00 PM
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, 3:19 PM
Finance Rich nations can’t pay for entire world, says hedge fund guru The founder of the world’s largest hedge fund has told a UN investment conference that the governments of developed countries cannot be expected to take care of the rest of the world. Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, the US-based fund with $124 billion of assets under management, said those nations’ financial burdens were too big […] October 17, 2023, 12:13 PM
Sustainability Cop28 and UN unveil $72 billion ocean conservation plan The UN, Cop28 and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have jointly launched a $72 billion initiative to protect at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans. The Oceans Breakthrough strategy was announced by Razan Al Mubarak, president of the IUCN and one of the UAE’s UN climate change champions for Cop28. As […] October 13, 2023, 1:15 PM
Industry World food price index at two-year low The United Nations food agency’s world price index fell in August to a new two-year low, reversing a rebound seen the previous month, as a decline in most food commodities offset increases for rice and sugar. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 121.4 points in August against a […] September 10, 2023, 7:36 AM
Finance Erdoğan says Black Sea grain deal can be restored soon Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan said after talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin that it would soon be possible to revive the grain deal that the United Nations says helped to ease a food crisis by getting Ukrainian grain to market. Russia quit the deal in July – a year after it was brokered by the UN […] September 5, 2023, 5:08 AM
Opinion Sustainability Turning water and food shortages into global opportunity Research in the Middle East can play a transformative role in addressing water scarcity March 28, 2023, 10:18 AM
Health Qatar among countries imposing Covid tests for Chinese travellers Authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travellers from China as coronavirus cases in the country surge following its relaxation of “zero-Covid” rules. International health experts predict at least one million deaths in China this year. However, China has played down concerns, saying decisions by some countries to impose a requirement for […] January 4, 2023, 6:45 AM
Opinion Sustainability Private sector innovation will save our natural environment While politicians talk about curbing emissions, private sector innovations are actively driving the transition to renewable energy December 29, 2022, 1:34 PM
Cop28 Cop27 deal delivers landmark on ‘loss and damage’, but little else Countries adopted a hard-fought final agreement at the Cop27 climate summit early on Sunday that sets up a fund to help poor countries being battered by climate disasters – but does not boost efforts to tackle the emissions causing them. After tense negotiations that ran through the night, the Egyptian Cop27 presidency released the final […] November 20, 2022, 1:31 PM
Sustainability Lula arrives at Cop27 to deliver message that ‘Brazil is back’ Bringing the message that “Brazil is back” in the fight against global warming, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived at Cop27 in Egypt on Tuesday – his first foreign trip since his presidential election victory. Brazil’s president-elect planned to hold meetings with envoys from Washington and Beijing on Tuesday, an aide said, as he seeks […] November 15, 2022, 5:23 PM
Sustainability Sticking points slow crunch talks to agree final deal at Cop27 Government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries began working towards a Cop27 final deal on Tuesday, with the summit host Egypt issuing assurances that the slow-moving talks remain on track. On the conference floor in Sharm El Sheikh, however, some delegates have begun to speculate that the UN talks could run over time into […] November 15, 2022, 10:50 AM
Cop28 Decoding Cop27: the many shades of green bonds Banks, governments and businesses say financial markets can play a crucial role in driving the shift to a lower-carbon world. At the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt, companies and country delegates are discussing ways of enhancing the market for green bonds, or bonds that are linked to projects deemed environmentally beneficial. Green bonds have their […] November 9, 2022, 8:22 AM
Economy Egypt and IMF working out ‘remaining points’ on loan Egypt and the International Monetary Fund are discussing remaining points in negotiations over a new extended fund facility, finance minister Mohamed Maait told Al-Arabiya on Wednesday. Asked if there were differences between Egypt and the IMF, Maait said: “In talks with anyone you go from one point of view to another. The talks are ongoing, […] July 28, 2022, 7:44 AM
Economy IMF cuts global growth forecast, warns of recession from inflation The International Monetary Fund have cut global growth forecasts again, warning that downside risks from high inflation and the Ukraine war were materializing and could push the world economy to the brink of recession if left unchecked. Global real GDP growth will slow to 3.2 percent in 2022 from a forecast of 3.6 percent issued […] July 27, 2022, 6:22 AM
Biden Middle East US special envoy for Yemen travels to the Middle East The US special envoy for Yemen will visit Saudi and Jordan this week, as part of diplomatic efforts in support of the United Nations-mediated truce in Yemen. The US State Department reported on Monday. Tim Lenderking’s “engagements will focus on expanding, extending, and renewing the current truce agreement that will further the tangible benefits already […] July 26, 2022, 6:39 AM
Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia helps fund $100m emergency food aid for Sudan The World Bank has agreed to provide the UN’s World Food Programme with $100 million for an “emergency safety net project” to address food insecurity in Sudan, it said in a statement on Thursday. The programme, whose funding comes from the European Union, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and several other Western nations, aims to provide […] July 22, 2022, 6:23 AM
Economy UN aid to Syria from Turkey to be allowed until January The UN Security Council appears set to allow UN deliveries of aid to some four million people in northwest Syria from Turkey until January, diplomats said on Monday, after days of wrangling with Russia over how long to let the huge operation continue. The mandate for the operation, which has been delivering food, medicine and […] July 12, 2022, 5:57 AM
Banking & Finance IMF says it held productive talks on new programme for Egypt The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday it had held productive discussions during a staff visit to Egypt on economic policies and reforms to be supported by an extended fund facility. “In the period ahead, we are continuing our close engagement with the authorities towards reaching staff-level agreement,” the IMF statement said. The IMF […] July 12, 2022, 5:53 AM
Economy Cost-of-living crisis driving surge in extreme poverty, says UN The global cost-of-living crisis is pushing an additional 71 million people in the world’s poorest countries into extreme poverty, a new report published by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday has warned. Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, said an analysis of 159 developing countries showed that the surge in key commodity prices this year was […] July 7, 2022, 5:09 AM
