With just days to go until world leaders meet at Cop28, all eyes are on the horrific developments in the Middle East. As global geopolitical tensions and conflicts intensify, the devastating floods in Libya, rising hunger across the African continent, and persistent drought in Iraq all underscore – again – that we cannot wait to come together to tackle the climate crisis. We have to respond to these crises in parallel. When leaders meet in Dubai, they must address one critical, unmistakable, unrelenting question: how to pay for the action needed to save our planet.
Countries across the Middle East and North Africa have pivoted to climate action, including through Saudi Arabia’s Middle East Green Initiative, which aims to increase regional co-operation and create the infrastructure required to reduce emissions. Additionally, the UAE has made clear that it wants to secure a commitment to triple global renewable energy capacity to 11 terawatts by 2030 as an outcome of their Cop28 Presidency. In the past month, we have seen some meaningful progress in negotiations on the loss and damage fund, but it remains to be seen whether arrangements to operationalise this facility and get funds flowing to climate vulnerable nations will be agreed at Cop28.
However, the world remains reliant on fossil fuels – and the region that exports fossil fuels. If we are to limit warming to 1.5°C and ensure a livable planet, world leaders must consider how to address the phasing out of unabated fossil fuels while scaling up renewables at the same time.
These objectives require huge resources. So, the question remains: how will we pay for the necessary development and climate resilience?
First, we must think creatively about how our global institutions can provide access to sustainable, long-term financing at lower-than-market rates. This will help developing countries afford to invest in their economic futures.
To do so, the World Bank and similar public institutions must change and modernise how they lend, manage risk and safeguard their capital adequacy/reserves.
At the recent World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Marrakesh, we made the case to Bank management and shareholders that, by adopting practices already used by commercial banks, these institutions could potentially open up hundreds of billions of dollars in additional loans for the countries that need them.
A study released in September by independent firm Risk Control shows that modern capital management practices would allow the World Bank to expand its lending for development and climate resilience by nearly $190 billion. These are actions that can be taken now, while use of callable capital, capital increases and longer-term reforms to the Bank are being negotiated.
The African Development Bank has put forward another creative idea to increase the amount of financing: enabling richer countries with unused Special Drawing Rights to rechannel these resources to developing countries. The unique structure of multilateral development banks, along with their favorable credit ratings, means that given access to these unused SDRs, they could leverage them to triple or quadruple their value. This would maximise their impact to help lower-income countries meet urgent climate and development finance needs.
The success of this proposal depends on leadership – leadership that could come from countries in the Middle East. In Marrakesh, we helped bring key nations together, with the support of the Cop28 Presidency, to advance the proposal. Building momentum and taking this proposal to Cop28 — potentially led by a forward-thinking, innovative leader from the region — could spur a number of other governments from the G7 and G20 to join, ultimately giving developing countries the tools they need to invest in climate resilience and future economic growth.
Second, we must recognise the role of the private sector. Developing countries will need $2.4 trillion each year by 2030 to reduce emissions and respond to climate change. The scale of the funding means that private sector capital will be vital.
At the Annual Meetings, World Bank President Ajay Banga set out a vision for the development institutions to significantly scale private sector partnerships. Governments and philanthropies like the Rockefeller Foundation can help mobilise larger amounts of private sector investment into emerging markets by using their own more limited resources as catalytic capital.
Institutional investors, like sovereign wealth funds, have a long history of fostering change in emerging markets. We need to leverage that expertise at Cop28 to develop practical solutions that can deliver the transformation we need to see.
Third, we must reduce the cost of capital. As we have seen in recent analysis, African governments – for example – pay five times as much for bonds in the capital markets as they would when borrowing from the World Bank.
To bring down these costs, we need to look at several challenges – currency risk, investor risk perceptions and the scarcity of lower-cost, longer tenure capital. To make any progress, we need to narrow our focus and develop concrete proposals that can be operationalised at Cop28.
As leaders gather in Dubai to take stock of global progress against climate goals, the world will once again be looking to the Gulf and asking questions that will define our shared future. I hope that together we can identify some answers to meet this critical moment.
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Juventus v Napoli, Sunday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Match on Bein Sports
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Company%20Profile
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Company%20profile
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PROFILE BOX:
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence
Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($800,000)
Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
MORE ON TURKEY'S SYRIA OFFENCE
Fixtures
Opening day Premier League fixtures for August 9-11
August 9
Liverpool v Norwich 11pm
August 10
West Ham v Man City 3.30pm
Bournemouth v Sheffield Utd 6pm
Burnley v Southampton 6pm
C Palace v Everton 6pm
Leicester v Wolves 6pm
Watford v Brighton 6pm
Tottenham v Aston Villa 8.30pm
August 11
Newcastle v Arsenal 5pm
Man United v Chelsea 7.30pm
ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
