A cement factory in Dubai, which hsa the worst air quality in the Middle east. Antonie Robertson / The National
A cement factory in Dubai, which hsa the worst air quality in the Middle east. Antonie Robertson / The National

UAE

Dubai keeps pressure on factories to decrease emissions

Municipality announces drop of 47 per cent in first six months of the year

Patrick Ryan
Patrick Ryan
Dubai

August 09, 2018

Environmental offences by factories in Dubai have fallen by 47 per cent in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year.

Most were related to environmental permits and protection of air from pollution, according to Alia Al Harmoudi, director of the environmental department at Dubai Municipality.

She said air pollution offences decreased by a quarter between January and June, compared to last year, as the municipality introduced measures to monitor industries more closely.

“We have expanded the scope of the use of drones to include environmental monitoring and control in all industrial areas in the Emirate, in addition to the development projects, to monitor and control any pollution cases emanating from industrial activities and projects in order to enhance the environment protection opportunities in the Emirate,” said Ms Al Harmoudi.

_______________

Read more:

Curbing pollution in the UAE makes economic and environmental sense

Dh1m fines for company failures in waste disposal

Dust storms prompt concerns over UAE's air quality

_______________

She said environmental monitoring of the industrial and service sectors has been intensified in response to the steady growth of the two sectors.

Cement manufacturers are committed to installing air pollution monitors linked to the municipality's air quality database, Ms Al Harmoudi said.

“All industrial plants that generate large quantities of air pollutants and odour elements from their operational processes have committed to install pollution and odour control units to ensure that they are in conformity with the permitted environmental parameters.”

For the protection and development of coastal zones and preservation of marine environment, Ms Al Harmoudi said that during the first half of the year, the Department carried out 98 inspection visits to marine and coastal facilities and projects and 289 to sand drilling sites.

“With regard to the control of coastal activities and sources of marine pollution resulting from marine transport vehicles and facilities, the Department conducted 154 inspection visits to floating restaurants in the first half of 2018. Coastal inspectors visited 18 berths, and carried out 802 monitoring and inspection visits to beaches and Deira port,” said Ms Al Harmoudi.

She said that 49 fishing and hunting shops were inspected and as per the federal law on the exploitation, protection and development of living aquatic resources in the UAE. She also stressed that no damage was made to the marine life during this period.

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814