A team of enterprising Dubai school pupils on a mission to boost air quality and an Abu Dhabi teacher delivering a crucial climate message to learners have won global recognition for their eco efforts.
The five pupils from Gems Our Own English High School – Dubai are among the five finalists of the Burjeel Holdings-Oxford Saïd Climate Change Challenge, which attracted entries from 43 countries.
Unnimaya Muraledharan, in 12th Grade, and Trisha Banerjee, Elvina Edison, Nischala Doddamani and Gayathri Vinod, all Grade 11 pupils, have created a natural fertiliser, Biogrow, that uses carbon dioxide and ammonia reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and ammonia in the air.
Frithi Francis, director of innovation, IT and sustainability at Cambridge High School – Abu Dhabi, also secured her place as a finalist in the teacher category of the competition, after ensuring the environment was a key topic of discussion in classrooms.
The UAE representatives have been invited to present their green solutions to judges in Abu Dhabi on December 1, with the winners being declared at a ceremony at Cop28 at Expo City Dubai the following day.
The winning pupils will get the opportunity to study a specially curated climate change course at the University of Oxford in 2024.
Making a difference
Elvina spoke of the need to combat rising pollution, highlighting the challenges faced in her homeland of India.
“We are from India and because of rising air pollution, there are some kids who could not attend school and had online learning. Also, one in eight households experience food insecurity, that’s what inspired us to get involved.
“We created a fertiliser that reduces carbon from the atmosphere, especially from places where factories give out a lot of carbon dioxide.
“This fertiliser has a slow-release technology, and we're capturing carbon from the atmosphere. I don't think another product like this exists.”
Gayathri said their idea, Biogrow, required a large amount of capital investment as well as government support to actually come to life.
“But it is a product that has a lot of long-term benefits, and we cannot put a price tag on our future.
“We need a lot of resources to bring it to life. But once it's created, the benefits will be huge and it can impact every corner of the world.”
The pupils were excited to have their chance to present their plan on the Cop 28 stage next week.
“It's definitely a new experience. I think for all of us it's the first time we will experience such a big event,” said Unnimaya.
“We are thinking of the fact that our idea actually went to the finals at such a big event.
“We are really happy and we're very excited and looking forward to December 1.”
Fellow pupil Trisha said she was excited to meet the judges and interact with like-minded people who were passionate about climate action.
The team will be competing against pupils from Poland, India, Syria, USA, South Korea and Indonesia.
Prof Soumitra Dutta, dean of Said Business School at the University of Oxford, hailed the enthusiasm of young people around the world to help protect the planet.
“The diverse range of applications from more than 40 countries, including entries from refugee camps, highlights the intense interest among school students and educators in tackling climate change,” he said.
“It also reaffirms the competition’s role as a catalyst for driving innovative solutions and giving young people agency in tackling the greatest challenge of our age.”
Learning valuable lessons
Ms Francis is in line for the international accolade after helping to teach the next generation about the need to go green.
The school adopted a cross-curriculum approach to educating pupils on climate action with elements of climate change being taught through different subjects such as history, geography, science.
Ms Francis created opportunities for pupils to head out in the real world and get experience at hospitals.
She will compete against other finalists from Canada, UK, Lebanon and India. The winning teacher will be able to attend a course at the University of Oxford in 2024.
“I have been an educator for more than 23 years. Integrating climate change into the curriculum was a challenge for me initially,” said Ms Francis.
“The main reason why we integrated it is to help our students develop a deeper understanding about climate change.
“Cambridge High School Abu Dhabi staff have integrated climate literacy into the curriculum and have become climate change educators.
“There are real world scenarios where we give students to chances to do a research project. We give our pupils internship opportunities. For example, our pupils, we have been giving them internship opportunities with Burjeel Hospital.”
Countdown to Cop28 – in pictures
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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MATCH INFO
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Gladbach: Pavard (37' og)
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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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.
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