Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, has told The National that he will be going to the Cop28 summit in Dubai next month to discuss expanding co-operation with the UAE that may involve climate change monitoring.
The UAE Space Agency and ESA, an inter-governmental space agency with 22 member states including non-EU countries such as Norway and the UK, have worked together before.
The ESA has four international partners when it comes to Earth observation: Brazil, Australia, the Philippines and the African Union.
Should a deal be struck at the UN international climate negotiations, it would be the first between the ESA and an Arab country.
“I see the UAE as a very important emerging space power,” Mr Aschbacher said on Sunday. “I would like to explore further elements of co-operation.”
At Cop28, ESA will be putting forward a flagship joint programme with the European Commission called Copernicus, which monitors changes in the land, sea, and atmosphere for security and climate change purposes.
“We have to see what the UAE’s interests are on climate change, but certainly, from the European perspective, it is fair to say that we have one of the strongest space programmes using Earth observation data for climate change activities,” said Mr Aschbacher.
“We are in a bit of an exploratory phase to see what could be the next activities in which we work together.”
Bilateral climate observation partnerships are tailored to each country’s needs.
Data provided by Copernicus can be used to monitor the impact of climate change but also in other sectors such as agriculture monitoring, water management, disaster management and ship routing.
ESA describes it as “taking the pulse of the planet”.
“Countries bring in their local knowledge so that the data can be used cleverly,” said Mr Aschbacher. “In some cases, co-operation emerge in developing satellites or hardware infrastructure ground segments.”
ESA has co-operated several times with the UAE, including with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on the Rashid lunar rover.
ESA provided small material samples in the wheels of the 10kg lunar rover whose lander crashed on the Moon in May.
ESA also provided ground segment services for the establishment of a UAE support centre in 2019 for the first visit by UAE astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri to the International Space Station.
More recently, ESA also supported UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and his backup with training at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, before he spent six months on the ISS. He returned last month.
Space is increasingly viewed as a strategic domain which is important to occupy for civilian and military purposes.
In November, the EU Commission unveiled Iris2, a constellation of up to 170 satellites to be deployed by 2025 to provide secure communication services to public authorities. It will extend to commercial authorities by 2027.
Awareness that conflicts on Earth also effect space has heightened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said in a speech in Brussels this year that space will become a “battlefield.”
One month after the start of the war in Ukraine, ESA suspended a €1 billion joint project with Russia called ExoMars, which had been designed to look for signs of life on the Red Planet.
Meanwhile, investments in space and defence are soaring.
Governments invested about €100 billion ($108.58 billion) in space programmes in 2022, which represents a nine per cent overall increasing compared to 2021 and a 16 per cent increase in the space defence sector, according to Mr Borrell.
“The current geopolitical situation shows that space is an integral part of security,” said Mr Aschbacher. “And yes, that is something that will continue.”
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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Director: Spike Lee
Starring: John David Washington; Adam Driver
Five stars
Stats at a glance:
Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)
Number in service: 6
Complement 191 (space for up to 285)
Top speed: over 32 knots
Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles
Length 152.4 m
Displacement: 8,700 tonnes
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Draught: 7.4 m
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Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
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Torque: 1075Nm
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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
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How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
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Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
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'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The years Ramadan fell in May
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