ABU DHABI // Environmentalists celebrated the announcement that Abu Dhabi would be home to a new green-energy agency, saying it would improve the country's image and encourage ecological efforts worldwide.
Winning the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) was gratifying, they said.
"Our efforts from all these years have been recognised," said Majid al Mansouri, secretary general of the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi. "Abu Dhabi is something we are proud of; we have initiatives that are being approved worldwide. To have such a prestigious new agency will reflect positively on Abu Dhabi."
The UAE often has been criticised for its environmental record. It has the world's largest per capita environmental footprint. The Emirates is also the world's fifth-largest per capita energy consumer.
But recent steps to address those issues, especially in Abu Dhabi, have drawn praise. Masdar, the Government's sustainability initiative, has supported ambitious renewable energy and sustainability developments in Abu Dhabi and overseas, and was key to winning the Irena bid.
In October, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, launched a ?25 million (Dh118m) fund to tackle species conservation worldwide.
"All of these initiatives have been working hand-in-hand to position Abu Dhabi," said Razan al Mubarak, managing director of the Emirates Wildlife Society.
Besides the prestige of being host to Irena, the UAE will gain valuable knowledge in the renewable energy field, which will eventually help leaders diversify its economy, said Mr al Mansouri.
This year, Abu Dhabi opened the country's first solar energy power plant and set a target for 2020: seven per cent of the emirate's energy production will be derived from sustainable sources, officials mandated.
"Having Irena here will create the momentum to meet and surpass that goal," Ms al Mubarak said.
She added that Abu Dhabi's keenness on winning the seat "shows the UAE Government is committed in dealing with climate change". And the UAE's support from other member states shows the need to keep developing countries engaged in environmentalism, she said.
How much of a role developing countries play in contributing to greenhouse gases and how the world should assign responsibility in preventing dangerous climate change have been central issues this year amid efforts to craft a new global treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. The treaty expires in 2012, and a new deal is expected to be signed during a UN conference in December.
So far, the UAE has maintained the position that industrialised countries bear the responsibility for pollution and should be the only ones to commit themselves to cuts in greenhouse gases.
But both Mr al Mansouri and Ms al Mubarak were careful to point out that winning the Irena vote and fighting climate change were separate issues.
"We do not want to mix between hosting the agency and our climate change commitment," Mr al Mansouri said.
vtodorova@thenational.ae
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
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
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
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UAE gold medallists:
Omar Al Suweidi (46kg), Khaled Al Shehhi (50kg), Khalifa Humaid Al Kaabi (60kg), Omar Al Fadhli (62kg), Mohammed Ali Al Suweidi (66kg), Omar Ahmed Al Hosani (73), all in the U18’s, and Khalid Eskandar Al Blooshi (56kg) in the U21s.
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
2020 Oscars winners: in numbers
- Parasite – 4
- 1917– 3
- Ford v Ferrari – 2
- Joker – 2
- Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood – 2
- American Factory – 1
- Bombshell – 1
- Hair Love – 1
- Jojo Rabbit – 1
- Judy – 1
- Little Women – 1
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) – 1
- Marriage Story – 1
- Rocketman – 1
- The Neighbors' Window – 1
- Toy Story 4 – 1
