The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the first part of its fifth Assessment Report after almost six years of spade work. The release covers the work of Working Group-I, in charge of the scientific assessment of climate change, while the other two groups responsible for impact and mitigation will release their reports next year.
Climate change concerns creating heat
SR1.3b Saudi-Japanese water desalination venture set up
Under the patronage of Abdullah Al-Hussayyen, Minister of Water and Electricity, a Saudi and two Japanese companies announced the formation of the Arabian Japanese Membrane Company (AJMC) with an estimated capitalization of over SR1.3 billion, the first ever industrial project established for manufacturing reverse osmosis membranes in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia aims to be world’s largest renewable energy market
Saudi Arabia aims to become the world’s foremost market for renewable energy with an aggressive investment budget of $109 billion. By 2032, the country strives to generate as much as a third of the Kingdom’s energy demands using renewable energy (54 GW).
Following the publicity surrounding the country’s major investment drive, King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) released a series of documents detailing the revised National Energy Plan. In addition to the 41 GW of solar power, 25 GW of CSP and 16 GW of PV, the Kingdom is aiming to generate 18 GW of nuclear energy, 3 GW of waste to energy, 1 GW of geothermal and an additional 9 GW of wind power, specifically for water desalination plants.
UAE ranks second in retail apparel index
The UAE has been ranked second on the A. T. Kearney Retail Apparel Index, which identifies the top 10 developing countries ranked in terms of market attractiveness, retail development, and country risk for their clothing retail industries.
“From the overall point of view, the UAE has all the components to be a very successful market for apparel,” said Emanuele Savona, A.T. Kearney principal. Reasons for this include that the country is growing in terms of GDP and consumption per capita and also has a vast young population attracted by big brands, Savona said.