A Dubai cricket team are planting a willow tree for each of their players as part of their plan to promote environmental awareness within the sport.
Desert Vipers, who were runners up in the first DP World International League T20 earlier this year, are undertaking a number of sustainability-related projects.
In July, the Vipers published an audit of their carbon emissions after their first season in the new T20 league in the UAE.
The franchise’s total carbon emissions amounted to 570 tonnes. Around 125 players participated across the league in its first season, only 24 of whom were locally based.
As such, flying players in for the event from around the world had a substantial effect. The Vipers audit showed that travel accounted for 423 tonnes of their own carbon emissions.
Goods and services including hotel and transportation in the UAE accounting for about 114 tonnes, with air conditioning coolant contributing to approximately 32 tonnes.
In response to the calculations, the franchise have partnered with a number of different sustainability organisations.
The franchise and its partners will be investing in "cricket-themed carbon credits representing the team’s entire season one footprint".
Another of their projects is to plant trees. So the likes of Alex Hales, Wanindu Hasaranga and Rohan Mustafa will each get their own willow tree, planted at a farm in Essex in the UK.
Each tree takes around 15 years to mature and makes around 50 cricket bats. Twelve trees have been planted so far – one each for the match day players plus one sub – while the franchise hope their corporate partners will also participate in the scheme.
Sean Morris, the chief executive of 1.5 Sport, who are the Vipers’ sustainability partners, thinks the willow project will “go beyond the offsetting and invest in the future”.
“As well as their own offsetting and sustainability policies they can also partner in the willow plantation, and we think that is very much future focused,” Morris said.
Phil Oliver, the Vipers chief executive, said the audit report made for alarming reading, but said it shows they need to act.
“It’s important we do acknowledge the impact we have on the environment playing as a cricket team in that part of the world,” Oliver said.
“It is difficult. There is no doubt it is a challenge. I think it is a breakthrough to be transparent and be held accountable like that.
“I don’t think other sports teams are looking enough at themselves. All we can do is try and get our own house in order as best we can and try to inspire others to do similar.”
Ian Curtis, from the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford warned that offsetting will not be easy, and said the Vipers need to be innovative.
“We are going to have to break a lot of ideas, be constantly trying things, and things are going to fail but at the end of the day we have to go out on the pitch and try and work things out,” Curtis said.
“When [Mike Gatting] played the first reverse sweep, the [MCC] members all thought, ‘What is going on?’ Now look what is going on these days.
“In particular kids love that type of innovation. Now we are in that innovation phase.”
Gary Adlen, the chief executive of Carbon Happy World, the company who calculated the footprint of the Vipers, said the figure was “a lot of carbon, particularly for a small business”.
The company are also working with the franchise on ways to “avoid, adapt and absorb” emissions in future to help mitigate its impact.
“What it did highlight for the Desert Vipers was where that carbon was coming from, particularly around flights and hotel stays,” Adlen said.
“Playing cricket in a desert, you have a lot of energy usage. That in a sense gave an inflated figure.
“All sporting organisations should have a figure attached in their reports [about carbon emissions] and Desert Vipers doing that is important.
“From that, what we have to do is work out how they get that down. They have committed to a five-year, 50 per cent reduction and a net-zero reduction by 2040.
“We will monitor that to make sure we are in line with that, help them get their reduction plans in place and help do the reporting.”
Tom Moody, the Vipers director of cricket, likened the report to a cricket scorecard, saying: “Now we know exactly what we have used in our first year.
“It is a case of us improving on that. Being is sport, we know this is our scoreboard and we are accountable for it.”
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Boston%20Strangler
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Stage 2
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06
4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
The specs: 2018 Honda City
Price, base: From Dh57,000
Engine: 1.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 118hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 146Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.8L / 100km
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
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
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
