An 800-room Dubai hotel was able to prevent up to 1.4 million plastic bottles from going to landfill in one year after it started to supply filtered drinking water on-site rather than bottled water.
Issam Kazim, chief executive of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said the resort had been churning through 117,000 500ml plastic bottles a month before the sustainability move.
At Climate Future Week in Dubai on Tuesday, Mr Kazim said it even installed a bottling plant to help distribute refillable glass bottles of water to each room.
While the hotel was not named or more details revealed, statistics provided at the event showed the hotel could be able to prevent as much as 116 tonnes of CO2 a year from entering the atmosphere because of the switch to filtered water.
The switch was part of the Dubai Can initiative, a major Dubai campaign launched in 2022 that saw water fountains installed across the city to cut down on single-use plastic waste, encourage the use of refillable water bottles and enhance the emirate’s sustainability.
“By reducing the consumption of single use plastic bottles, Dubai Can aims to significantly decrease plastic waste in the city leading to a substantial reduction in carbon emissions and environmental pollution,” Mr Kazim told attendees.
“Dubai Can has achieved substantial cost savings for businesses through the installation of water filters.”
It came during the opening day of Climate Future Week. The five-day event encompasses talks, workshops, films and art exhibitions to examine climate change. UAE ministers, experts and those with solutions to the crisis are expected to address the event over the next several days.
“I don’t need to reiterate the importance [of the issue] and the risk we are all facing,” said Khalfan Belhoul, chief executive at Dubai Future Foundation. “This is a serious topic and we all understand that.”
Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, director general at Emirates Nature – WWF, told attendees she believed one of the reasons why the climate crisis had gone unrestrained for so long is that people failed to see the impact of human activity on the planet in real time.
She said this was brought home to her on a recent expedition to Greenland’s ice sheets. Over the past 30 years, scientists say Greenland's contribution to global sea levels has grown significantly as ice is lost due to global warming.
“The most shocking thing I experienced in Greenland wasn’t necessarily the data or charts. It was the sound of massive pieces of ice that were crashing into the sea time and time again,” said Ms Abdullatif.
“This highlights the raw power, sheer scale and urgency of climate change. When you are in a situation like that, you really start to think about the impact your daily actions have around the globe.”
Among the other speakers on Monday were Najib Saab, Secretary General of the Arab Forum for Environment, who spoke about regional challenges from water scarcity to carbon footprint; Toby Gregory, who rowed across the Atlantic and raised awareness of marine pollution; and Alzainah Albabtain, an organic gardener from Kuwait.
“People were questioning: ‘What’s next?’” said Mr Gregory, after his epic trip across the ocean ended in 2023. “We knew we had to do something.”
For the UN climate talks to take place in the UAE later this year, he has launched a fresh drive called Row to Cop28, where everyone from business leaders to students can join in rowing the boat around the country's coast in advance of the summit to raise awareness of climate change.
Mr Gregory is also behind the “the plastic pledge” which tries to galvanise people and companies in cutting plastic use.
“Everywhere I go now you see plastic pollution. It really is a scourge of society,” said Mr Gregory.
“It is not the only problem the world faces but we can't tackle everything all the time.”
Meanwhile, Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, and Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, are set to address the conference on Wednesday and it culminates on Saturday with an event to mark the two-month countdown to Cop28.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President-designate, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, is scheduled to speak about the build-up to the crunch UN climate talks along with Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Cop28.
Cop28 takes place at Expo City Dubai from November 30 to December 12 where leaders will gather to tackle the escalating climate emergency.
“Cop28 is a Cop for action,” said Mr Belhoul. “Let’s hope the contribution of this series of events can contribute to the action of Cop28.”
Climate Future Week runs until Saturday and is organised by the Museum of the Future in collaboration with the Fiker Institute. It also includes a regional climate photography exhibition and film festival.
Dubai Can – in pictures
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Poacher
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The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
MATCH INFO
Red Star Belgrade v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight (Thursday), UAE
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Delhi Daredevils 174-4 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians 163 (19.3 ovs)
Delhi won the match by 11 runs
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
OPENING FIXTURES
Saturday September 12
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leeds United
Tottenham v Everton
West Brom v Leicester
West Ham v Newcastle
Monday September 14
Brighton v Chelsea
Sheffield United v Wolves
To be rescheduled
Burnley v Manchester United
Manchester City v Aston Villa
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
Results
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Company%20profile
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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LEADERBOARD
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MATCH INFO
Borussia Dortmund 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Kimmich 43')
Man of the match: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
