Al Wasl Plaza’s trellis design was inspired by an ancient golden ring found in the Saruq Al Hadid site by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai. It also reflects the intertwined logo of Expo 2020.
Al Wasl Plaza’s trellis design was inspired by an ancient golden ring found in the Saruq Al Hadid site by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai. It also reflects the intertwined logo of Expo 2020.
Al Wasl Plaza’s trellis design was inspired by an ancient golden ring found in the Saruq Al Hadid site by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai. It also reflects the intertwine
Dr Nawal Al-Hosany is permanent representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Energy Agency
September 24, 2021
We are merely days away from seeing what a ‘world of pure imagination’ looks like. The fantastical promo for Expo 2020 Dubai featuring Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, which takes as its refrain the famous line from Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has whet appetites across the globe to see just what kind of world we could create for future societies.
The world that has been created at the Expo site, however, is not a place of sugar-coated sweets and chocolate treats. Rather, it’s a space that shows what a sustainable future could be. It is set to be a manifestation of the words of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai: “The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it and execute it.”
That the imagination of the Dubai Expo organisers is focused on how economies can forge a sustainable, green future is nothing but encouraging. Indeed, it’s symptomatic of how the country and its leadership envision the next 50 years of our nationhood: as a creative, diverse, inclusive and sustainable place powered by renewable energy.
Expo 2020 Dubai – the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia – will not just be a catalyst for economic activity and growth in the UAE. It will deliver one of the most sustainable world fairs in history.
A central concern of any major event when it comes to its sustainability is its long-term use. The infrastructure built for many global extravaganzas, from World Cups to tech fairs, are often thought of as "white elephants" – excessive, permanent structures whose long-term costs outweigh their usefulness.
Mindful of this, the Dubai Expo’s International Sustainability team has been working with private and public partners to minimise the environmental impact of the six-month event to preserve the infrastructure that has been developed for it, long after the curtain has fallen. This is in the same vein as the UAE’s long-term vision for its Expo infrastructure.
For instance, the UAE National Pavilion from Milan Expo 2015 is now hosted at Masdar City, repurposed as the headquarters of the UAE Space Agency. And prior to that, the award-winning UAE Pavilion from Shanghai Expo 2010 – designed as parallel sand dunes in tribute of the UAE’s natural desert landscape – has been relocated to Saadiyat Island.
The UAE's pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 has since been relocated to Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, where it houses the Berklee College of Music. Courtesy CCI
Dubai Expo’s International Sustainability team has been working to minimise the environmental impact of the event
Fast-forward to next week, we will see sustainability take centre stage at this year’s once-in-a-lifetime event. The opening week of Expo 2020 is themed Climate and Biodiversity Week, aimed at raising global ambitions for climate action and environmental protection. As another immediate example of reusing infrastructure, the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (Wetex) and Dubai Solar Show will both be held at the Expo 2020 Dubai site, where more than 1,200 companies from 55 countries will convene top showcase the opportunities that come with climate action and the green energy transition.
Then there’s the energy required to run the site and the pavilions. Fifty per cent of it is being generated by renewable sources; all the permanent builds are fitted with solar panels and other clean energy systems with a combined total capacity of 5.5 megawatts. For context, that’s enough energy to do approximately 180,000 round trips from Downtown Dubai to the Abu Dhabi Corniche.
Standout examples of this include the net zero energy and water building, Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion, which is aiming to become a Platinum-certified LEED building.
The Pavilion is surrounded by 18 Energy Trees. These ingenious structures are equipped with more than 4,900 solar panels which are programmed to face the sun and soak up its rays during the daytime, like enormous sunflowers, capable of produce four gigawatt-hours of alternative energy a year.
With innovation like this at the heart of the Expo site, it’s little wonder that the site is on-track to receive LEED certification for more than 120 of its permanent buildings – 95 of which are targeting LEED Gold, while four are targeting LEED Platinum, the highest LEED recognition.
Expo 2020 is also highlighting a major milestone for renewable energy in the region, with the official inauguration of the Middle East and North Africa’s first industrial scale, solar-powered green hydrogen facility, in collaboration with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and Siemens Energy. which is rightly being spotlighted at the Expo as an example of the major socioeconomic advantages that clean energy can unlock.
Located at Dewa Outdoor Testing Facility of the Research and Development Centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, daylight solar power from the park will power the Green Hydrogen Project, which is projected to produce approximately 20.5kg of hydrogen an hour at 1.25 megawatts of peak power.
Sustainability runs throughout the site – from top to bottom, from the towering buildings themselves to getting people to the site and the buildings. As an example, the official logistics partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, UPS will launch zero-emissions delivery solutions like e-quads, e-bikes and an Arrival electric vehicle, which will run on the solar power infrastructure in place at Expo 2020 Dubai site.
This is the critical decade for climate, innovation and partnerships. A decade that demands that we all to come together in the pursuit of a common goal. And this global collaborative effort will be on full show at the Expo, where country pavilions highlight the best of their expertise and knowledge of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. This is evident from the Singapore Pavilion, themed Nature, Nurture, Future, representing the garden city and the nexus between nature and the built environment. The Netherlands Pavilion is a miniature ecosystem, brimming with sustainable solutions for water, energy and food.
Meanwhile, the Mozambique and Seychelles pavilions will offer visitors glimpses into their quest for accessible energy and the glorious deep-sea treasures that we must preserve at all costs, respectively. The Cuba Pavilion will tell of the country’s evolution in renewables and biotech, while the Comoros Pavilion puts recycling in the spotlight.
The German Pavilion will showcase some of Europe’s cutting-edge sustainability innovations, and the Czech Republic Pavilion displays how to extract water vapour from the air using solar energy – something that will be of keen interest to those of us who live among arid desert climes. And this is just a sample of the great plethora of country pavilions highlighting human ingenuity and innovative ways to support all life on our planet in the years ahead.
Combined, the 200 pavilions at the Expo site – 191 of which represent participating countries – offer a glimpse into a future world powered by clean energy underpinned by sustainability. It really is the stuff of imagination. But this world is not confined purely to the mind, to words in a book or images on a screen. This is a world we are designing collaboratively and collectively. Spurred on by a vision of making tomorrow better, the UAE is moving from a world of pure imagination to a reality at great speed.
Key findings of Jenkins report
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Key facilities
Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
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
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.
