Antonio Guterres led calls on the worldwide shipping industry to step up to the climate challenge by not only adopting a 2050 net-zero target but agreeing on a global levy on ships to achieve it at a summit in London this week.
The International Maritime Organisation is deciding how to cut greenhouse gases from an activity that contributes 3 per cent of emissions. Delegates have been asked to overcome divisions on the surcharge that UN Secretary General Mr Guterres described as necessary to keep the world on a pathway to capping global warming at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
“Measures such as carbon pricing will push the industry in the right direction by making zero-emission fuels more competitive,” he said, “while the finance generated can support the just transition in developing countries and address the needs of those most vulnerable to the climate crisis.
“The industry has seen some progress but it must move much faster to get on track and drive investment and innovation.
“I urge you to leave London having agreed a Greenhouse Gas Strategy that commits the sector to net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest – and that includes ambitious science-based targets starting in 2030.”
Simon Stiell, the UN's climate change committee executive secretary, also pushed for more political engagement from the maritime industry on the 1.5°C target in the run up to the Cop28 meetings which open in UAE in November. He warned against complacency from the states that make up the rule-setting organisation amid calls for faster reform that increases compliance with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
“This body has to do more on climate change now,” he said. “If parties represented here at the IMO choose a low-ambition pathway, our ability to meet our Paris commitments will be compromised.
“It is possible to limit global warming to 1.5°C with rapid, deep and immediate emissions reductions across all sectors of the global economy. How you revise IMO’s GHG strategy is critical for keeping 1.5°C alive.”
Efforts to decarbonise so far centre on a 2018 IMO decision that instructed shipping firms to reduce CO2 emissions by 50 per cent by 2050, from 2008 levels. The target is considered insufficient given the level of global emissions and compared to other industries, including aviation, which is aiming for net zero by the same midcentury deadline.
The revised strategy is looking for a 20-25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases in 2030 and up to 70 per cent in 2040. The language in the talks for net zero is either 2050, with some caveats, or by the middle of the century. These measures are set to gain backing even though some countries have said a net-zero commitment does not capture how the industry can change its operations to meet climate goals.
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim told a briefing that the maritime industries, including shipbuilding, energy and finance as well as cargo, could not ignore the need for climate policies. “I don't think we will fail to adopt a decision,” he said in a briefing. “We have to adapt. We need the financial resources to help the disproportionally impacted countries in different ways.”
An IMO panel meeting in May said a levy on emissions from shipping as a part of a basket of measures is critical to the organisation's actions required for meeting the 1.5°C temperature goal. Although the measure would be adopted in 2025 and rolled out two years later, the type of tax or level is still to be determined in talks this week.
The idea is that the funds collected from a universal IMO carbon levy should contribute towards funding a just, fair and equitable transition to a net-zero economy. Advocates of the measure want to set a rate of $100 per tonne of greenhouse gas. The surcharge on the ship fuel consumed could raise up to $80bn a year.
A powerful move to push back against the levy proposal includes countries from Australia to China. Beijing's delegation called for the “flat levy/fund/contribution/fee” to be renamed in the final communique so that exemptions could be included.
The meeting at the body's permanent headquarters across the river from the British parliament is pitting climate-vulnerable nations – particularly Pacific islands – and richer countries against big exporters like Brazil.
During the Brazilian intervention, the representative warned against poorer countries seeing the shipping levy as a route to getting compensation for damage from climate change from world trade. Brazil believes a tax of that nature would cause “structural damage” to the global economy.
The vast majority of the world's 100,000 cargo ships – which carry 90 per cent of the world's goods – are powered by high-polluting diesel.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')
Fulham 0
Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)
Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
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- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
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- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
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What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
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Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
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.”
