Saudi Arabia's Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company plans to launch a carbon credit trading exchange in early 2024 and establish a fund to invest in climate projects, its chief executive has said.
RVCMC, which is jointly owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Saudi Tadawul Group, will also offer advisory services to companies looking to decarbonise their operations, Riham ElGizy told The National in an interview on Monday.
Ms ElGizy’s remarks come ahead of an RVCMC-led carbon offset auction in Nairobi on June 14, where more than 2 million tonnes of credits are set to be sold to 15 buyers, mainly from Africa and Saudi Arabia.
The carbon credits comply with Corsia, a programme run by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, and are registered with Verra, operator of the world's largest registry of carbon credits.
Carbon credits, also known as carbon offsets, are permits that allow companies to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. The funds from the sale of the credits are used to finance climate-action projects that would not otherwise get off the ground.
The market for the financial instrument could be worth more than $50 billion by 2030, according to consultancy firm McKinsey.
Last year, Saudi Arabia conducted the Middle East’s first carbon offset auction and announced the sale of more than 1.4 million tonnes of carbon credits.
“We are going to exceed the bar that we set in the market last time. We were the biggest in the history of the market [and] this time we are going to be even bigger than that,” Ms ElGizy said.
About 70 per cent of the basket of carbon credits is for climate projects in Africa, including countries such as Egypt, Mauritania, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya, she said.
Despite bearing the least responsibility, Africa is already experiencing more pronounced climate change effects compared to other regions.
With nearly one fifth of the world’s population, the region accounts for less than 3 per cent of the world’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.
“We believe that there is a huge under investment in climate projects in Africa. What we're trying to do over there is to shed the light and illustrate the underinvestment in African [carbon] credits,” Ms ElGizy said.
“That's why we're taking buyers to go and see on the ground … we're connecting the buyer with the supply, and this is very important for us.”
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter and the Arab world's biggest economy, is looking to diversify away from oil exports as part of its plan to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.
In February, the PIF raised $5.5 billion through the sale of a green bond to secure funding for green investments.
Although carbon offsets are seen as key to limiting carbon emissions, the market for the instrument has come under criticism globally for lack of transparency and the poor quality of projects.
“In the future, we're going to have ratings agencies [and] we're going to look at international standards and make sure that they are applied on the exchange,” Ms ElGizy said.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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.
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
The view from The National
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