Global leaders and corporations should not view the environment and economy as two separate issues and should continue to push for decarbonisation, which has both economic and social consequences.
What the world has experienced this summer is a call for action and a “taste of what's to come”, with floods in Pakistan displacing millions and fires breaking out on the outskirts of London amid a rise in global temperatures, Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan, founder and chief executive of Alliances for Global Sustainability, said on Wednesday.
“We should never look at the environment and the economy as mutually exclusive, and this is also the reason why we must adapt and focus on decarbonisation and hone in on the economic and social impacts,” she told a panel discussion on climate adaptation at a Harvard Business School conference in Dubai.
Decarbonisation, building back better and developing a greener and more sustainable global economy have become a focal point for policymakers as the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Governments around the globe have committed to cut their carbon footprint and have set ambitious targets to meet global climate action goals.
The UAE's Net Zero 2050 Strategic Initiative calls for Dh600 billion ($163.37bn) to be invested in clean and renewable energy sources in the next three decades.
The Arab world’s second-largest economy is also hosting the Cop28 climate conference in 2023 at Expo City Dubai. The summit will focus on finding solutions to the threats posed by climate change.
“When we think of the planet, we need to think of our impact — not within our borders because the planet has no borders, and so what we do in the UAE or in the region affects other nations as one,” Sheikha Shamma said.
“I do believe that a global effort is needed to address climate action, especially when it comes to low-income populations, developing nations and small island states.
“It is everyone's responsibility to take climate action seriously and to do our part, as individuals, as companies [and] as communities.”
Paddy Padmanathan, chief executive of Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power, said climate change and rising temperatures in Gulf waters were already affecting its water and power generations assets.
The company plans to invest in “adaptive machinery” to tackle future challenges, he said.
Climate-related problems are not limited to this part of the world and the “double whammy” is evident in Europe where the Rhine is flowing at a lower level and power plants that need its water to cool down cannot do so as their intakes were built for a much higher water level, Mr Padmanathan said.
“Adjusting the level would require shutting down these plants for months, which is a huge problem given Europe’s energy crisis,” he said.
“Everybody is going to be impacted by these things. It is not just us … I think we're all in the same boat, and we all have to find the solutions.
“So, we are very consciously now looking at implementing adaptive machines … I will be actually investing in that division.”
With the advances in technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning and the enhanced ability to absorb data, the industry is able to find solutions at a “much more cost competitive rate” and much faster than in the past, he said.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: 2018 Audi Q5/SQ5
Price, base: Dh183,900 / Dh249,000
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder / 3.0L, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic / Eight-speed automatic
Power: 252hp @ 5,000rpm / 354hp @ 5,400rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,600rpm / 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy: combined 7.2L / 100km / 8.3L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20CarbonSifr%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202022%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Onur%20Elgun%2C%20Mustafa%20Bosca%20and%20Muhammed%20Yildirim%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Climate%20tech%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%241%20million%20raised%20in%20seed%20funding%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Asia Cup Qualifier
Venue: Kuala Lumpur
Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6: Final
Asia Cup
Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Schedule: Sep 15-28
Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
