Egypt will push countries to fulfil their climate pledges and allow protests when it hosts the next UN summit on climate change, Cop27, the incoming president of the event has said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called his overall goal “implementation" as he prepares to preside over Cop27, which will be held in Sharm El Sheikh in November.
He is eager for countries to deliver on promises to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions sharply, facilitate “non-adversarial” talks on compensation to developing countries for global-warming impacts, and allow climate activists to protest.
Mr Shoukry said the last summit, held in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021, finalised many commitments made during the Paris Agreement in 2015. The pledges aimed to reduce emissions to limit global warming to 1.5ºC (2.7F) since pre-industrial times.
“The commitments and the pledges now have to be implemented in all sectors of the climate change agenda, whether it’s in adaptation, mitigation or finance, loss and damage,” Mr Shoukry said in an interview on Monday with the Associated Press, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
In recent years, many developing nations and activists have increased long-standing calls to compensate poor countries for devastation wrought by climate change. They say the devastation has been disproportionately caused by rich countries because of past emissions.
The call was rejected during last year’s summit. Many supporters of the idea, often called “loss and damage,” hope to make progress on it in November. Their arguments could receive a boost by the symbolic significance of this conference being held in Egypt, a developing nation in North Africa.
“We hope that the discussion (on loss and damage) is comprehensive, but it is non-adversarial,” Mr Shoukry said. He added that there should be a recognition among all countries “that we are all in the same boat and for us to succeed, we all have to succeed.”
Mr Shoukry said protests would be allowed during the conference.
Egyptian authorities crack down on demonstrations not sanctioned by the government and retain the right to cancel or postpone any protests. This leads activists to wonder what, if any, demonstrations would be able to happen, a common occurrence at previous Cop events.
“We are developing a facility adjacent to the conference centre that will provide them the full opportunity of participation, of activism, of demonstration, of voicing that opinion,” Mr Shoukry said. “And we will also provide them access, as is traditionally done on one day of the negotiations, to the negotiating hold itself.”
Protests at global UN climate conferences often fill the streets with floats and banners and persist for days. The protests, as well as booths and press conferences outside the official venues, comprise a conference of their own — although they are not where critical language on carbon commitments is hammered out.
Mr Shoukry said during meetings about climate pledges in Denmark earlier this month that he had invited protesters who were outside to speak with him. He called the meeting “productive” and that Egypt’s climate goals lined up with those of many protesters.
“We recognise their impact, their determination, their commitment to keep us all honest as governmental representatives and parties that we should not be delinquent, and rise to the occasion and deal with this very important issue,” he said.
Before hosting the conference, Egypt has been racing to launch many agreements around renewable energies. In March, Egypt and Norway signed an agreement for several projects around green hydrogen and building green infrastructure projects in African countries.
Egypt and clean energy company Scatec also signed a $5 billion deal to establish a plant in the Suez Canal area for producing green ammonia from green hydrogen. Such deals come on the heels of years of steady investment in wind and solar technologies.
Mr Shoukry said Egypt was relying as much as possible on renewable energy in the building of several new cities, including a new administrative capital east of Cairo. Critics have called it a “vanity project,” but the government has said it is necessary to absorb Cairo’s booming population, expected to double to 40 million by 2050.
Mr Shoukry said a rapid shift to renewable energies presented enormous opportunities for investors, a common argument of proponents.
When asked whether fossil fuel companies could or should be part of the transition to renewable energies, an argument made by oil and gas companies, including many at the Davos conference, Mr Shoukry disagreed.
“I can’t say that fossil fuels are part of the solution. Fossil fuels have been the problem,” he said. “We might see in gas a transitional source of energy with certainly fewer emissions. But I think we have to really move quickly to the net-zero goal and we have to apply ourselves more effectively in new technologies, in renewable energy.”
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
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Transmission: eight-speed auto
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Wicked: For Good
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A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Schedule for Asia Cup
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
