Live updates: Abu Dhabi F1
The UAE was the first country in the Mena region to announce a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Since then, it has funded several clean energy projects, including solar, wind and nuclear, in an effort to reduce consumption of gas for electricity production.
Abu Dhabi alone has launched the two-gigawatt Al Dhafra solar power plant, one of the world's largest solar projects, which is expected to power 200,000 homes and reduce the capital's carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2.4 million tonnes a year.
Hence, Yas Marina Circuit’s ambitious plans to ensure the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will also achieve net-zero carbon status as an event and venue by 2040 is part of their ongoing commitment to sustainability.
The circuit is the first in the region to obtain the FIA Three Star Certification, in 2021, in recognition of the environmental performance of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and its commitment to environmental management and its sustainable approach.
“We started this journey a few years ago. We put a sustainable strategy and a policy in place at Yas Marina Circuit,” Saif Al Noaimi, chief executive officer of Ethara, the event management company behind the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, told The National.
“We have annual targets for reducing our carbon footprint as a venue and as an event of the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.”
According to Al Noaimi, Yas Marina Circuit is on target to meet those goals. The track's management have implement initiatives like replacing the lights with LED and looking into sustainable sources of fuel for their generators. They have completed building one megawatt of solar energy at the circuit which is going to cover more than 30 per cent of the annual power needs.
“We have targets and ambitions that by 2040, we will be a carbon neutral venue and event of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and by 2030, we have a target of having 50 per cent of it completed,” he said.
“We are moving on many fronts. For example, our atmospheric generation infiltration system that converts water from the atmosphere - rain for instance - into clean, bottled water for drinking and other uses.
“We have recycling plants where we recycle anything at the event and we are actually using recycled material to make uniforms for our staff.”
The strategy of the FIA, the governing body for motorsport, is to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2030.
They have set ambitious targets and have been working with the teams, race promoters, partners, suppliers, broadcasters, and the FIA to reduce the sport’s carbon footprint.
Some of the initiatives include developing sustainable fuels, considering greener ways to travel to races, and how staff members are dispatched to the circuit.
It is no secret that F1 is a major source of harmful emissions, with its own 2019 sustainability report confirming 256,551 tonnes of CO2 emitted by 10 teams, 20 car units, and 23 racing events across various locations.
However, only 0.7% of those emissions are generated by the racing cars themselves.
The biggest contributor is logistics – the movement of equipment by road, air or sea – which accounts for 45 per cent.
The second largest is business travel which includes all transport and hotels for the F1 teams and major event partners, which contributes 27.7 per cent. The other major contributors are facilities and factories, accounting for 19.3 per cent, and event operations, which contribute 7.3 per cent.
In addition to carbon emissions, F1 events consume large amounts of energy required to power their racetracks, especially for night races.
The Covid-19 outbreak in December 2019 ramped up F1’s sustainability efforts, more so for economic reasons than ecological. It resulted in the ‘cleanest’ F1 events of the past decade as races were mostly limited to Europe and without any spectators present.
“I would say F1 is actually a pioneer in sustainable global sport,” Al Noaimi said.
“They have very ambitious net-zero targets by 2030 and that includes their global travel emissions. They have vocally set a very ambitious target. If you look at the internal combustion engine of an F1 vehicle, it is by far the most efficient engine in the world.”
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
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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 BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
