My local bike shop reopened this week and I dropped in to pick up a spare part. The shop is always busy but it seemed unusually frantic, full of bikes, but only three or four for sale. The rest were in for repairs. "No new bikes?" I asked the owner. He shrugged. "Can't get them. Suppliers are quoting end of August, even September for deliveries." Many of the repair bikes looked as if they had recently been rescued from the back of someone's garage or cellar. "Coronavirus bonus," the shop owner explained, saying that the sudden interest in cycling came from so many people becoming reluctant to use buses and trains while the pandemic lasts.
The popularity of cycling suggests Covid-19 could have an even wider benefit for action on climate change, according to Petteri Taalas, the head of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). In an interview with New Scientist magazine, Mr Taalas found reasons to be cheerful. "The Covid-19 crisis will change the world," he said. "It's going to have impacts on the mentality of people and governments… this is the mentality that would be needed in solving the climate problem."
A new way of thinking about climate change is desperately needed. The WMO's most recent report says that in the past 20 years we have seen the 19 warmest years on record. The world has broken all records for greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The WMO is most concerned about carbon dioxide, which Mr Taalas says "has contributed two thirds of the warming so far and its life in the atmosphere is several hundred years." Climate change is not only melting glaciers and raising sea-levels. Crop failures due to lack of fresh water mean around 800 million people are going hungry and 30,000 a day are dying of malnutrition.
Mr Taalas may be right that what we need is not more studies but a change in the way we think and act. It is happening already, not just in my local bicycle shop but across boardrooms of multinational corporations.
Bernard Looney, the chief executive of BP, one of the world's biggest oil companies, has forecast that lower oil prices could be with us for decades. BP has cut price forecasts by about 30 per cent, with the expectation that Brent crude will average $55 a barrel from now until 2050. Airlines and aircraft manufacturers, car makers, dealers and car drivers are having to think differently about what the future may look like.
Like coronavirus itself, no country can tackle climate change alone
As a result of lockdown I have gone from filling my car’s petrol tank at least once a week to filling it just twice in the past three months. But let’s not get too carried away. Changing accounting practices and writing down asset values is the easy part. Will we really no longer want to fly for an exotic holiday? Will we really want to cycle to work in all weathers for years to come?
Mr Taalas notes that the drop in carbon emissions as a result of coronavirus will not have a rapid and significant impact on climate change because so much damage has already been done, and carbon dioxide is so persistent in the atmosphere. But if he is correct about our change in mindset and behaviour, then corporations and consumers will accelerate the green conversion of systems for energy, transport and industry.
Companies like BP and Shell have set a target to become carbon neutral by 2050. Car manufacturers are rapidly changing designs for the future. Many of us have friends and business contacts who are enjoying working from home and are not keen to return to a crowded office. One friend says her company is planning limited socially distanced office meetings once every two weeks, with smaller groups turning up in shifts when it is essential to meet face-to-face. Everything else is done by Zoom.
As I write this, my friend is at home working through a schedule of eleven online meetings. But if scientists and cyclists, small and large corporations, are all planning how to adapt to survive in the post-Covid economy, and in the process thinking about the environment, one piece of the puzzle is missing: global political leadership.
Like coronavirus itself, no country can tackle climate change alone. The UN climate change discussions, known as COP26, were due to take place in Glasgow in November but have been postponed until the spring as a result of the pandemic. Perhaps by then the US will have a president who recognises the existential threat posed by climate change and the need for multinational action. The Trump presidency has wasted four years ignoring a threat to humankind that is potentially more devastating than coronavirus. All the new cycling enthusiasts in the world cannot make up for another four years of doing nothing.
Gavin Esler is a journalist, author and presenter
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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 years Ramadan fell in May
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The years Ramadan fell in May
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 2
(Martial 30', McTominay 90 6')
Manchester City 0
THE BIO:
Sabri Razouk, 74
Athlete and fitness trainer
Married, father of six
Favourite exercise: Bench press
Must-eat weekly meal: Steak with beans, carrots, broccoli, crust and corn
Power drink: A glass of yoghurt
Role model: Any good man
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The biog
Age: 30
Position: Senior lab superintendent at Emirates Global Aluminium
Education: Bachelor of science in chemical engineering, post graduate degree in light metal reduction technology
Favourite part of job: The challenge, because it is challenging
Favourite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Gandi
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
HER%20FIRST%20PALESTINIAN
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Saeed%20Teebi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20256%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%C2%A0House%20of%20Anansi%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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The five pillars of Islam
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The burning issue
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.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
