DP World, one of the world's biggest port operators, has issued a $100 million blue bond aimed at funding sustainable projects in marine transport, port infrastructure, marine pollution and water quality initiatives as it taps into growing investor demand for eco-friendly finance deals.
The five-year blue bond was priced at a spread of 99.6 basis points above US Treasuries, with a 5.25 per cent coupon rate, making it DP World’s tightest spread in the bond or sukuk market, a statement on Thursday said.
“We are increasingly working in regions where the ocean is being polluted, coastal biodiversity is being lost, and critical resources like water are becoming scarcer, posing significant threats to both nature and people," said Sultan bin Sulayem, DP World's group chairman and chief executive.
"This issuance represents DP World’s second foray into the sustainable financing capital markets highlighting our commitment to sustainability and demonstrates our approach towards sustainable business practices.”
DP World has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through electrification and renewable energy investment. Of the $1.5 billion it raised last year, $1.17 billion has already been allocated to eligible green projects, it said.
Last October, DP World raised the money in a green sukuk issuance to fund its global decarbonisation projects, seeking to align its financing strategy with its sustainability efforts.
Projects financed though the sukuk have contributed to avoiding more than 177 million kg of carbon dioxide emissions, saving 466,057 MJ of energy and generating 866,686 kWh of renewable energy, the company said.
Blue projects
A blue bond is a debt instrument that companies, governments and development agencies issue to raise finance for marine and ocean-based projects that have long-term sustainability objectives and benefits.
They work like conventional bonds whereby an investor lends capital to the bond issuer who pays back the initial investment plus an interest rate every year until the end of the bond’s term.
DP World's blue bond, for which investment management firm T. Rowe Price Group was the key investor, will be used to fund a variety of eligible marine sustainability projects.
These include supporting research, development and procurement of alternative fuels and technology to reduce carbon emissions, and other sources of marine pollution in the maritime sector.
It also covers funding infrastructure upgrades to minimise environmental impacts, noise and air pollution for sustainable port developments.
DP World, which operates ports around the world from Buenos Aires to Hong Kong, pledged in 2021 to become a carbon neutral enterprise by 2040.
The blue bond will also cover the conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems to improve biodiversity. It could also fund initiatives to tackle waste and pollution in coastal and marine environments, as well as improvements to water quality and making sure communities have equitable access to water.
The%20specs
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Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Read more about the coronavirus
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Pakistan 106-8 (20 ovs)
Iftikhar 45, Richardson 3-18
Australia 109-0 (11.5 ovs)
Warner 48 no, Finch 52 no
Australia win series 2-0
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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The%20specs
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
RESULTS
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $49,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner RB Frynchh Dude, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
7.05pm Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner El Patriota, Vagner Leal, Antonio Cintra
7.40pm Zabeel Turf – Listed (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,000m
Winner Ya Hayati, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Althiqa, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
8.50pm UAE 1000 Guineas – Listed (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Soft Whisper, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
9.25pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Bedouin’s Story, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Dunki
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GCC-UK%20Growth
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DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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