Zero Carbon Ventures, a UAE-based company dedicated to bringing carbon-reducing technologies to the Middle East and North Africa, has raised $5 million in seed funding from Emirati businessman and Dubai ruling family member Sheikh Ahmed bin Mana.
Sheikh Ahmed was also appointed as the company's strategic investor and chairman of the board of directors, Zero Carbon Ventures said in a statement on Thursday.
The funding will help the company deliver decarbonisation projects and accelerate its efforts towards global sustainability initiatives on a wider scale, it said.
“Our ambition has always been to enact tangible change. Our fully established and experienced senior management team ... is incredibly well-positioned to drive our sustainability initiatives even further,” Martin Reynolds, chief executive of Zero Carbon Ventures, said.
The company, which was established in 2022, has offices in Masdar City and Abu Dhabi Global Market. One of its projects is tackling the issue of methane emitted from landfills by capturing the gas before it escapes into the atmosphere and repurposing it to valuable commodities, according to its website.
In October 2022, Masdar City and Zero Carbon Ventures signed a preliminary pact to explore collaboration on advanced technologies to reduce carbon emissions in the UAE capital.
The UAE will host the Cop28 climate conference in November. The meeting, which will follow on from Cop27 in Egypt last year, will seek solutions to the threats posed by climate change.
The Arab world’s second-largest economy has been investing heavily in renewable energy projects to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
The country approved an updated version of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 and the development of the National Hydrogen Strategy in July.
As part of the plan, the UAE plans to invest Dh200 billion ($54 billion) by 2030 to ensure energy demand is met while sustaining economic growth.
Abu Dhabi also announced its Climate Change Strategy for 2023-2027 in July, aimed at reducing emissions by 30 million tonnes by 2027, from 135 million tonnes in 2016.
Major clean energy projects the UAE is developing include the Barakah nuclear plant, a two-gigawatt solar plant in Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra region, and the five-gigawatt Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai.
The Al Dhafra plant is expected to mitigate 2.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, while the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will reduce 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year when complete.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Wimbledon order of play on Tuesday, July 11
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Centre Court
Adrian Mannarino v Novak Djokovic (2)
Venus Williams (10) v Jelena Ostapenko (13)
Johanna Konta (6) v Simona Halep (2)
Court 1
Garbine Muguruza (14) v
Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
Magdalena Rybarikova v Coco Vandeweghe (24)
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SHADOWS%20AND%20LIGHT%3A%20THE%20EXTRAORDINARY%20LIFE%20OF%20JAMES%20MCBEY
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Alasdair%20Soussi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20300%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%20Scotland%20Street%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAvailable%3A%20December%201%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
