A stark assessment of the challenges facing the environment is outlined in the latest report from the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi.
The comprehensive assessment of the state of the the capital's natural resources sets out the areas of greatest concern, but also highlights the EAD’s work to overcome them.
Its top priorities include the demands being put on ground water, protecting air quality, fighting climate change and conserving wildlife both on land and in the sea.
The issue of falling groundwater levels, the 2017 annual report says, is: “one of our most pressing challenges and greatest areas of concern.”
New laws were passed last year to protect groundwater wells from pollution and excessive use, which the EAD calls: “Essential to the security, cultural heritage and environment of the UAE.”
The report adds that: “These reserves have been severely depleted and our prevailing climatic conditions mean that replenishment takes place extremely slowly, falling far short of the demand for consumption.”
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Related: Conservation efforts in Abu Dhabi mean new hope for endangered species
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The EAD warns that in several areas, the quality of the remaining groundwater: “Has been tainted in places by rising levels of brackish groundwater from saline aquifers, as well as excessive use of fertilisers and discharge of brine from desalination plants, along with wastewater.”
In response, the agency says it has completed 99 per cent of the infrastructure for a strategic water reserve in Liwa that will use a system of recovery wells, recharge basins, pumps and tanks that can supply the entire city of Abu Dhabi and the Al Dhafra region with refreshed groundwater for 90 days.
A proposal has also been made to create another reserve in the Al Shuaib area that would ensure three months’ supply in an emergency for Al Ain, with the possibility of extending it to the Northern Emirates.
The EAD has also been successful in cutting the amount of groundwater used by forests by over a quarter and within the next 18 months will have mapped every working groundwater well in the Emirate.
Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, EAD’s Secretary General, explained that: "We have made significant strides in improving the irrigation efficiency of Abu Dhabi’s forests, decommissioning very low ecological and cultural value forests that are not viable.”
The report underlines the UAE and Abu Dhabi’s commitment to the 2016 Paris agreement on climate change, while outlining two widely different scenarios for the future.
EAD research concludes that: “Emissions in 2030 could be 170% higher than in 2010 if the current trend continues,” but says that there is the potential to slash them by 40 per cent if key economic sectors, including energy and waste, follow policies on emissions.
The agency sees potential in expanding and protecting mangroves as a method of scrubbing carbon from the atmosphere and says the promotion of clean energy technologies and use of low carbon fuel means that: “Abu Dhabi has performed relatively well in comparison to other developing countries.”
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Read more:
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The Agency identifies outdoor air pollution as: “The single biggest threat to the health of people and wildlife in the emirate,” and says it is now monitoring emissions across the Emirate, while creating regulatory standards for airborne pollutants, including ozone, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide, a by-product of treating sour gas.
Air quality, the report says, generally meets Government standards set down in 2006, with the exception of ozone and particulate matter – a mixture of extremely small particles and liquid drops caused by urban pollution that can cause serious health issues for the heart and lungs.
Its research also shows that levels of mercury, another toxic substance generated by urban waste, rose by 10 per cent between 2010 and 2012, with the potential that it could rise 115 per cent by 2030.
At the same time, the EAD says, tougher controls mean instead that it is targeting a reduction in mercury levels of nearly 40 per cent and that it was the first agency in the region complete an inventory of mercury sources in response to the United Nations Environment Programme Minamata Convention.
Of the 23,000 tons of waste generated by Abu Dhabi every day in 2015, only around one per cent was considered hazardous. The main sources of waste, the EAD says, are industrial and commercial activities, almost matched by construction and demolition, together amounting for 73 per cent, with municipal waste accounting for only a fifth and agriculture just six percent.
Better waste management, the report says, means the Emirate is well on track to meet the targets in the Abu Dhabi Plan 2020, which seek drastic cuts of municipal solid waste generation to 1.5 kgs per capita each day and increase the amount of treated municipal waste to 75% by 2021.
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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.”
FIXTURES
Thursday
Dibba v Al Dhafra, Fujairah Stadium (5pm)
Al Wahda v Hatta, Al Nahyan Stadium (8pm)
Friday
Al Nasr v Ajman, Zabeel Stadium (5pm)
Al Jazria v Al Wasl, Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium (8pm)
Saturday
Emirates v Al Ain, Emirates Club Stadium (5pm)
Sharjah v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Sharjah Stadium (8pm)
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
