Welcome to my first edition of The Climate Edit after taking over from Rachel Kelly, who provided such interesting coverage of issues related to the climate and the environment for The National.
The big piece of climate news over the past week has been the delaying of plans to approve a global deal to regulate emissions from shipping.
Whether we realise it or not, shipping is intrinsic to all of our lives. Most of us probably travel by plane more often than by boat, but shipping is used to bring in much of the food and the consumer goods that we rely on.
Indeed, one popular book on the shipping industry is called Ninety Percent of Everything in recognition of the reality that so many of the things that we buy have travelled by sea.
But as well as being a critical part of modern life – and an important industry in the UAE and across the Gulf region – shipping is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for around three per cent of global emissions.
Last week in London, the adoption of the International Maritime Organisation's Net Zero Framework, designed to bring in a carbon pricing system that would help the sector reach net zero by 2050,was put back by at least a year after Saudi Arabia tabled a motion in favour of a delay.
Another country pushing back was the US, which has argued that the standards will drive up costs for consumers.
UAE officials have previously highlighted their climate-related shipping initiatives, with Abu Dhabi Ports having talked of electrifying operations and using alternative fuels and renewable energy.
Whatever individual countries may or may not be doing, forging worldwide agreements on climate change is much more difficult, as events in London have highlighted.
That’s before you consider the enforcement of such deals once they’re given the green light, as the struggles to enact the Paris Agreement and to keep global temperature rises to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels demonstrate.
A new study has suggested what the perfectly constructed home for net-zero in the UAE would look like. Photo: Dr Tareq Abuimara
When compared to global averages, countries in the Gulf typically have high per capita carbon emissions, and a key reason is that the region’s hot climate leads to heavy energy use for air conditioning.
However, researchers have been looking at whether it is possible to create a villa that would actually contribute as much power to the national grid in the UAE as it takes.
Could traditional Emirati design features that promote airflow, coupled with the latest solar power panels and other innovations, craft homes that are net zero in their energy use?
A morning walk in the smog near the India Gate monument the day after the Diwali festival in New Delhi, India. AP
Residents of New Delhi often have to cope with high levels of pollution, but smog brought about by fireworks let off to celebrate Diwali earlier this week is acute even by the standards of the city.
The air quality index has spiked to “severe” levels and visibility has fallen dramatically, with reports indicating that the city has experienced some of the worst post-Diwali pollution levels for several years.
Rules to stop the use of the dirtiest fireworks are reported to be widely flouted and the Indian capital is a long way off from bringing in the stricter controls on vehicle and other emissions that environmentalists say are needed to clean up the city’s air year-round.
Pollutants released by ships cause around 250,000 deaths a year, researchers have found, with particulate matter and toxic gases to blame.
As well as causing deaths, shipping emissions are said to be responsible for six million cases of childhood asthma each year, the same study found.
Jargon buster
Carbon pricing A system that requires companies to pay for the emissions that they are responsible for. This aims to ensure that firms are liable for what are termed the negative externalities – the harmful impacts that affect others – of their activities, which traditional financial systems do not account for.
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Why seagrass matters
Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Name: Thndr Started: 2019 Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr Sector: FinTech Headquarters: Egypt UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi Current number of staff: More than 150 Funds raised: $22 million
Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
if you go
Our legal advisor
Rasmi Ragy is a senior counsel at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Prosecutor in Egypt with more than 40 years experience across the GCC.
