The G7 countries on Friday promised to make their electricity grids mostly carbon-neutral by 2035 and cut funding for fossil fuels by the end of this year, toughening their climate commitments at a time of crisis in their domestic energy markets.
Current G7 chair Germany hailed what it said were “enormous steps forward” at a two-day meeting of the group’s climate and energy ministers, held in Berlin in the shadow of the war in Ukraine and a resulting surge in fuel prices.
An 84-point agreement said any fossil fuel subsidies to mitigate the fallout from Russia’s invasion should be “temporary and targeted” as countries try to stay on track with their climate change goals.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said it was more important than ever to speed up the shift away from fossil fuels at a time when Europe’s dependency on Russian oil and gas is complicating its response to the war.
“Protecting the climate, exiting coal and expanding renewable energies are questions of national, European and international energy security that we need to tackle resolutely together,” Mr Habeck said.
The G7 countries — Britain, Germany, France, Italy, the US, Canada and Japan — set a goal of having “predominantly decarbonised electricity sectors by 2035”, going further than a previous pledge to do this at some point in the 2030s.
They said they would do this by “rapidly scaling up the necessary technologies and policies for the clean energy transition”. Countries including Britain and Germany plan to massively increase offshore wind power generation.
Electricity is only one part of their energy consumption. The countries said they would also “drastically increase” the use of renewable fuels in heating, air conditioning and transport.
Mr Habeck has described the expansion of wind and solar power as geopolitically prudent to prevent countries such as Russia from monopolising energy. But the fuel squeeze has also stirred interest in using more fossil fuels.
The seven countries adopted tougher language on cutting methane emissions, saying reductions were necessary to keep alive the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels.
And in what Germany hailed as a significant breakthrough, Japan for the first time promised to end all subsidies for overseas fossil fuel plants — joining the other six countries in pledging this by the end of 2022.
A communique after last year’s summit, when Britain held the G7 presidency, had only extended this promise to coal power, regarded as the most environmentally damaging fossil fuel.
This year’s talks ended with a separate declaration on protecting the oceans in which the seven nations said they were “ready to do our utmost” to tackle plastic pollution.
All seven countries have committed to reduce their net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. The talks come six months after the Cop26 summit in Glasgow brought about numerous pledges to drive down carbon emissions.
The Glasgow summit ended in acrimony after India pushed through an amendment to water down a global commitment to reduce coal power consumption.
“I’m going home with a good feeling after this G7 meeting,” said German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, who said the club of rich democracies was responsible for dealing with the outsized environmental damage it has caused.
“Despite Russia’s terrible war against Ukraine, despite the pandemic and discussions about energy security, the community of nations is sending a clear signal of doing more to protect nature and the environment.”
Analysts at climate think tank E3G said the announcements were a step in the right direction but there was much still to do when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts the G7 leaders for their annual summit next month.
Mr Scholz’s main proposal is to create a separate “climate club” of green-minded nations to drive through commitments that would struggle to find consensus in forums such as the UN and G20.
Brick Medak, the head of E3G’s Berlin office, said there were gaps in “the actions needed in this decade to phase out coal and mobilise the trillions necessary for a global green transition”.
“Olaf Scholz must show up at the leader’s level ready to go beyond his pet project climate club and move G7 leaders on where the climate and energy ministerial fell short,” he said.
ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
Results
3pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m, Winner: Lancienegaboulevard, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Fawzi Nass (trainer).
3.35pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner: Al Mukhtar Star, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
4.10pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Speedy Move, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar.
5.20pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Moqarrar, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy.
5.55pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Dolman, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
