The City of London's financial centre is seeking to entrench its role in the transition from fossil fuels to net zero with a visit by the lord mayor to the UAE this week that seeks to capture some of the progress of Cop28.
Michael Mainelli, the 695th lord mayor of the City of London, led a delegation to Dubai for the climate summit in November where he was keen to emphasise the role of markets over government. Since then, the UK's own role in the net-zero push has been called into question and Mr Mainelli concedes the country has lost its trailblazing status.
Not only did Rishi Sunak change tack on the changeover to electric vehicles but Labour leader Keir Starmer essentially scrapped a pledge to invest £28 billion ($34.85 billion) a year in a greener economy. "Now the UK is definitely not leading the pack -- not behind by any means -- just not at the forefront," Mr Mainelli told The National. "So the bragging rights are gone."
As numerous reports suggest, including some from leading Conservatives, the need to embrace the climate agenda cannot be wished away. "You're going to be dragged kicking and screaming into this if you don't do anything, or you're just going to be middle of the pack but actually if we're really ahead, we can make money out of this," he said.
Mr Mainelli's talks with officials in the UAE are set cover the development of carbon markets as well as the pool of debt finance for vulnerable countries seeking to issue sustainability-linked bonds – Kenya is about to become the third country after Chile and Uruguay to tap into London markets in this way.
There is also a strong role for insurance, he said highlighting the commitments the markets are already underwriting. "We will guarantee that this voluntary carbon market really will remove a tonne of carbon dioxide on the market," he said. "The voluntary carbon credits will actually really remove a tonne of carbon."
At Cop28, where he had "genuine admiration for the organisation" of the event, Mr Mainelli saw reinforced emphasis on carbon markets. He will seek the UAE's participation in the third Net Zero Delivery Summit hosted by the City of London in early June.
He said efforts by the EU and other jurisdictions to introduce carbon borders were too complex to succeed.
Brexit means the UK can break with the EU regime. Mr Mainelli reamed off some statistics, such as the financial centre now accounting for 15 per cent of global assets, up from 12 per cent, or that there are 120,000 more jobs and only 30,000 have migrated to Europe. Or that two fifths of foreign exchange trading is based in the UK.
He does not deny the negative drumbeat of headlines around the London Stock Exchange, which has lost out on big IPOs and has even been shaken by talk of giants such as Shell packing up for the US. Mr Mainelli said all big equity markets are being drained by the high costs of listing. "I would argue that we've made the cost of raising capital on equity markets too high," he said with regret. "We use them as a benchmark a tremendous amount and they form a public good in that regard.
"But we have made listing on them too expensive and some of it is direct national regulation, which requires certain things of listed companies that they don't require of other private companies. Some of it are the rules of the exchange itself. It's up to them to set their rules but there are arguments we could do a lot better to cut down the costs on traded markets."
Ethical AI
The frontiers of technology and finance evolve ever faster and Mr Mainelli spoke out for a form of regulatory evolution, including a City initiative to develop the international standards regime. "In the Gulf, I'm hoping to meet the accreditation bodies as standards bodies to see if they would be interested in joining that," he said. "If not now, then at some other point in the future.
"I would like more regulators to say this is a sensible approach for now as we reserve the right to go ahead and experiment in the less regulated areas of finance."
The burgeoning space sector is also on the agenda, with ideas around using insurance to address the growing threat of catastrophic space debris destruction. A proposal for insurance bonds for space debris retrieval, put forward by the insurers, closely resembles the surety bonds that London has issued for the mining sector, maritime activity or oil rigs.
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Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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- 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
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
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16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
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
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
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Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
