The UN on Monday put out a draft text on resolving the thorny issue of "loss and damage" amid growing concern whether its climate conference in Egypt would live up to its billing as the "implementation summit".
Vague and including a range of options, the draft text sets out what this year's climate summit, Cop27, could agree upon the subject of "loss and damage" — a negotiation phrase that means rich industrialised countries should bankroll efforts by developing nations to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change.
At the heart of the issue is the fact that rich nations are responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions while developing nations, whose responsibility for climate change is insignificant, are the hardest hit.
The draft text, which could still be changed, included a reference to the establishment of a UN-administered fund. Other options included a fit-for-purpose fund under the UN and the strengthening of existing entities and public finance, including grants.
It was not immediately clear whether the industrialised nations have agreed to the UN draft text, or parts of it, but available evidence suggests that it could prove a hard sell. Still, it offered a glimmer of hope that a breakthrough might still be attainable.
Already, the US, through its special climate envoy John Kerry, has said it did not want a dedicated financial body or mechanism created to channel funds to the developing countries hit by climate change.
“This is just not happening,” Mr Kerry said at the weekend in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, dampening the optimism felt by many developing nations when loss and damage was added to the official agenda of the annual climate talks for the first time after years of opposition from rich nations.
Officials from the US and other rich countries say there are already existing funding mechanisms, including the Adaptation Fund established in 2001, the Green Climate Fund established in 2010 or the Global Shield.
The last of these is a new G7-backed initiative called “Global Shield against Climate Risks.” It was launched on Monday with initial funding of more than $200 million to provide “pre-arranged financial support designed to be quickly deployed in times of climate disasters”.
Germany said it was contributing €170m ($175m) while Ireland committed to give €10m.
Anxiety that the summit might fail to reach agreement on new targets and the implementation of resolutions adopted in previous years, as well as some form of compromise on the issue of loss and damage, is becoming evident in comments by senior delegates and the Egyptian hosts.
With just five days left before the scheduled end of the talks, the risk is that negotiations become entangled around the most controversial issues, preventing representatives from reaching an agreement by Friday and delaying the process by a full year, until Cop28.
There was, however, a ray of hope on Monday when news broke that the US and China — the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gas — have agreed to resume their formal contacts on climate change. The agreement was reached by the two rivals during the summit of the Group of 20 nations taking place in Bali, Indonesia.
But for now, there is already talk that the summit might not wrap up by Friday as scheduled and could extend into the weekend to give negotiators more time.
On issues where not enough progress has been made, delegates have been given two more days to work out differences. Pairs of ministers — one from a developing nation and the other from a rich one — will have until Thursday night to reach agreement on a given topic.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, president of Cop27, struck a note of anxiety when he addressed a plenary meeting on Monday. Time was running out for a deal by Friday, he said.
Mr Shoukry, alluding to loss and damage, said the ongoing talks would focus on “co-operation and facilitation” not “liability or compensation”. Compromise is necessary to reach a “conclusive decision” before the Cop28 meeting in the UAE next year, he told delegates.
UN Climate Secretary Simon Stiell also appealed for constructive diplomacy to match the high-flying rhetoric heard during the opening days of the talks.
“Let me remind negotiators that people and planet are relying on this process to deliver,” Mr Stiell said.
“Let’s use our remaining time in Egypt to build the bridges needed to make progress.”
South Africa's Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has called for immediate financial aid for developing countries hit by climate disasters, throwing the ball back into the court of the US and rich European nations.
Wealthy countries should provide aid through a so-called loss and damage mechanism, and multilateral development banks should be recapitalised to provide more finance to tackle global warming, she said at the weekend.
“From the perspective of the African Group of Negotiators, we do need to see immediate support for loss and damage on the continent,” Ms Creecy said.
Jamaica echoed South Africa's sentiments, saying a “settled road map” on setting up a loss and damage finance facility needed to be in place by the end of Cop27 for the climate conference to be considered a success.
“The reality is that we haven’t yet settled even on the mechanisms to deal with the discussions or the negotiations on loss and damage going forward,” said chief Jamaican delegate Matthew Samuda, the Caribbean island's minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth.
“The expectations for 2024 are at risk if we leave Cop without a settled road map.”
The summit’s second week is when negotiators double down on the details of outstanding issues as ministers arrive to work on breaking the deadlock.
Besides the talks on loss and damage, a key element will be the kind of “cover decision” the summit’s Egyptian presidency pursues. The document signals the political action countries are willing to take to meet their climate commitments.
Separately, Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was due to arrive in Sharm El Sheikh on Monday. He is expected to pledge to reverse the environmental policies of his right-wing predecessor and to protect the Amazon rainforest.
The trip will be his first international visit since beating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in last month’s presidential run-off.
Mr da Silva, 77, who promised on the campaign trail to work towards zero deforestation, will address the conference on Wednesday, his press team said.
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
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- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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
Roger Federer's 2018 record
Australian Open Champion
Rotterdam Champion
Indian Wells Runner-up
Miami Second round
Stuttgart Champion
Halle Runner-up
Wimbledon Quarter-finals
Cincinnati Runner-up
US Open Fourth round
Shanghai Semi-finals
Basel Champion
Paris Masters Semi-finals
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UAE squad
Rohan Mustafa (captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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The specs: 2018 Peugeot 5008
Price, base / as tested: Dh99,900 / Dh134,900
Engine: 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 240Nm @ 1,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.8L / 100km
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
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OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
SERIES INFO
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi Sunshine Series
All matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Test series
1st Test: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets
2nd Test: Wednesday, 10 March – Sunday, 14 March
Play starts at 9.30am
T20 series
1st T20I: Wednesday, 17 March
2nd T20I: Friday, 19 March
3rd T20I: Saturday, 20 March
TV
Supporters in the UAE can watch the matches on the Rabbithole channel on YouTube
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
