Hailing from an Egyptian family with four generations of architects, Sarah El Battouty has earned a place among the Arab world’s most populous nation’s climate change pioneers.
Ms El Battouty made her foray into the world of green architecture back in 2001 after earning a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Cambridge. Along with her flagship enterprise, ECOnsult, they made their way to the top of Egypt’s sustainability sector, competing with some of Mena’s biggest multinational real estate players.
Following a long list of meteoric successes, including being the first Middle Eastern company to be nominated for the esteemed Earth Shot Award, Ms El Battouty was last year appointed a global ambassador with the UNFCCC, the UN arm that manages climate change and administers the annual Conference of Parties. The 27th Cop is taking place in Sharm El Sheikh in November.
She was also commissioned by the Egyptian government to design the country's pavilion at Cop27.
Though the logical step after earning her degree was to join her family’s established architecture firm, Ms El Battouty decided to make a risky venture into green architecture and strike out on her own.
She went on to earn degrees in sustainable development and project management from London’s renowned School of African and Oriental Studies, and rural project management from the Centre of Environment Development and Economic Policy.
Ms El Battouty told The National that Egypt’s business world when she established ECOnsult in 2013 was significantly different from today. She said older prejudices, particularly against women, were against her from the start.
However, this changed after her company proved itself as a serious contender despite its relatively small operation.
“When we started, no bank, institution, university, lender or venture capitalist would even consider supporting a green building company like ours. Let alone one owned by a woman, with over half of its staff being women who are receiving equal pay to their male counterparts,” Ms El Battouty said.
Amid a business climate with no access to seed funds or the other support mechanisms present in today’s start-up-dominated sector, Ms El Battouty sold her own car to start ECOnsult.
“With the money I registered the company’s name, designed the logo, bought two laptops and hired three architects. That was ECOnsult,” she said.
Despite remaining a small company because of an admitted neglect of branding and PR, ECOnsult’s track record comprises a long list of small, medium and large scale projects carried out both in Egypt and abroad.
“We don’t come from a business culture with seed start-up funds and seed rounds," Ms El Battouty said. "We didn’t bother with trying to enter the right scene or making our company cool or trendy. We also didn’t really know the value of branding and speaking events and all that.
"We really were singularly focused on our mission, which has always been to deliver affordable green solutions on buildings."
Some of the company’s most renowned design projects abroad include a cafe in Palma, Italy, made entirely out of refrigerator casings to service a nearby church, and a massive complex of vertical gardens in Singapore. This was commissioned by a local developer to tackle the country’s worsening pollution problem. The company was also commissioned to make a climate-controlled nursery in China.
In Egypt, ECOnsult’s roster includes the country’s first globally certified bank branch, one belonging to Banque Misr, which opened last year. More recently, the company designed a branch in the Egyptian city of Aswan for the country's national postal service.
However, the company’s magnum opus, for which it was named a finalist at the 2020 Ashden Awards, is a residential village. This was made to house workers of a nearby farm owned by Royal Herbs, an Egyptian company that produces various kinds of herbal teas.
The 4,200-square-metre village, the first carbon-neutral project in Mena, was built for heat resilience because of its location in Egypt’s western oases. Here, temperatures can reach 50°C in the summer months.
The design reduced the temperature inside the residences by 10°C compared with the outside. This was achieved mainly through manipulating air-flow inside the structures and installing solar panels on the roof.
The model removed the need for energy-intensive air conditioning units, which in turn cut costs for the company significantly
Ms El Battouty said reducing costs for businesses was how ECOnsult rose to the top of the green design scene in Egypt. At a time when few businesses took green projects seriously, ECOnsult knew that it had to prioritise its clients profit interests while achieving its own goals.
“Early on, we’d approach a business or government entity with an offer to reduce their energy costs by 20 per cent, and we’d get that done,” Ms El Battouty said. “After being hesitant to work with us, they began to trust us more. So it got to the point where clients were approaching us and asking us to build larger and larger projects.”
She recalled more pushback from companies to introduce energy-saving mechanisms earlier in the 2010s. But, as the decade progressed and Egypt’s government began to slowly reduce subsidies on energy, they began to see the merit in transitioning to green energy.
Ms El Battouly is excited that Cop27 is this year being held in the global south, where some of the countries most affected by climate change are. She hopes to encourage more women to venture into green enterprises at the conference.
She will attend it in a number of capacities: as the chief executive of ECOnsult, as a policy advisor for the Egyptian ministries of planning and environment and as a UNFCCC global ambassador.
The next step for ECOnsult with Ms El Battouty at the helm is a coming collaboration with the government on one of its largest social welfare programmes. This aims to update lower-income housing, particularly in rural areas, to make it more environmentally friendly.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Honeymoonish
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RACECARD
6pm Emaar Dubai Sprint – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Turf) 1,200m
6.35pm Graduate Stakes – Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.10pm Al Khail Trophy – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 2,810m
7.45pm UAE 1000 Guineas – Listed (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
8.20pm Zabeel Turf – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 2,000m
8.55pm Downtown Dubai Cup – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 1,400m
9.30pm Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
10.05pm Dubai Sprint – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Tank warfare
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
Short-term let permits explained
Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
TV:
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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THREE
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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
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.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
