According to a report by the Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi, annual arrivals at the emirate’s airports surpassed 11.1 million, while departures totalled 11.3 million in the same year. These increased figures align with the air transport agreements negotiated by the country’s General Civil Aviation Authority and the enhancements made throughout 2023. This information was reported by the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The aviation sector’s achievement in managing air traffic and ensuring the smooth and safe arrival and departure of all COP28 guests is notable.

Regarding aircraft traffic, Abu Dhabi’s airports experienced significant increases in 2023. Zayed International Airport handled 141,225 flights, marking a 27.8% rise from 2022’s 110,536 flights.

Meanwhile, Al-Ain International Airport recorded 8,409 flights last year, up from 7,598 flights in 2022.

The report revealed that the Indian subcontinent had the highest number of arrivals at Abu Dhabi’s airports, with approximately 3.2 million travellers by the end of 2023. This was followed by Western Europe with 1.9 million arrivals, Asia with 1.7 million, Gulf Cooperation Council countries with around 1.6 million, and East Asia with 822,777 arrivals.

Additionally, the Indian subcontinent also had the highest number of departures from the emirate’s airports last year, with approximately 3.5 million travellers, followed by South America with 1.9 million, Asia with 1.7 million, and GCC countries with 1.6 million.

Meanwhile, the UAE capital has become the newest destination for billionaires seeking to protect their assets, as thousands of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) have established special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in recent years, according to Bloomberg.

According to data gathered by wealth advice firm M/HQ and reported by the news agency, Abu Dhabi’s financial hub now has over 5,000 SPVs, up from just 46 in 2016.

The post Airports in Abu Dhabi experience 40% surge in travellers appeared first on International Finance.

Boris Johnson stated during his keynote speech at Masdar’s Green Hydrogen Summit in Abu Dhabi that while his nation had hosted COP26 in 2021, hosting COP28 in Dubai later in 2023 had proven to be more difficult.

“There was a difference between COP26 and COP28,” Boris Johnson noted.

The Glasgow United Nations Summit took place before Russia’s war with Ukraine, the spike in hydrocarbon costs, and the general lack of confidence in Net Zero.

“And with all due respect to all of you here in Abu Dhabi, I must say that while we completed the soft COP, you completed the tough COP, if you understand what I mean,” the former British Prime Minister stated.

“But you were victorious. The UAE Presidency overcame negative coverage in some international media outlets that were pessimistic about the outcomes of the COP28. You also fared better than the expectations of non-governmental organisations, and by using your persuasive technological arguments, you convinced people to abandon fossil fuels here in the world’s largest and richest hydrocarbon basin,” he added further.

With its close ties to the United Arab Emirates, Boris Johnson, who was London’s mayor from 2008 to 2016 and prime minister from 2019 to 2022, claimed that during his tenure, the city had earned the moniker “eighth emirate.”

He claimed that during that period, the two nations had entered a new golden age of cooperation.

He went on to say that the United Kingdom had been able to reconsider and shift its perspective on power generation as a result of the UAE’s utilisation of solar farms and other renewable energy projects. He specifically mentioned Emirati involvement in Masdar through the London Array wind farm off the Essex coast.

One of the biggest planned offshore wind farms in the world, Dogger Bank South by Masdar, is presently undergoing the UK planning procedure, he said.

Boris Johnson further suggested that surplus energy from the farm may be utilised to contribute to the production of green hydrogen, which could eventually be used to power aircraft engines.

But to proceed, he continued, it was critical to get past reservations and scepticism regarding hydrogen as a power source.

“These things require political leadership, patience, and unwavering innovation. And that innovation necessitates ever closer collaboration between nations like the UK and the UAE, ranging from batteries to artificial intelligence,” he declared.

The post Boris Johnson hails UAE-UK collaboration in green technology appeared first on International Finance.

“Oil demand is expected to be supported by resilient global GDP growth, amid continued improvements in economic activity in China,” OPEC said in its regular monthly report on the oil market, Arab News reported.

The demand in the industrialised countries that make up the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is predicted to rise by 0.3 million barrels per day to an average of 46.1 million barrels per day, which is still less than the record set in 2019.

Demand is expected to increase by 2 million barrels per day on average to 58.3 million barrels per day in non-OECD countries.

The predictions coincided with the first-ever explicit call at a COP global climate conference for a progressive reduction in the use of fossil fuels, the primary cause of global warming.

By science, COP28 advocates for a “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050.”

The Paris Agreement, which set the goal of maintaining the rise in global temperatures at 1.5C, was reached eight years after the world experienced its hottest year ever.

Meanwhile, it is anticipated that tensions will run high in the COP28 climate conference negotiations as a result of the disclosure of the contents of a leaked letter from the secretary-general of the Organisation of OPEC, requesting that its members reject any mention of doing away with fossil fuels.

All 13 OPEC members as well as a few other economies that rely heavily on fossil fuels received a letter from Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais, Reuters reported.

The post OPEC can see healthy growth in 2024 appeared first on International Finance.

Fitch Ratings Managing Director and Global Head of Islamic Finance, Bashar Al-Natoor, expressed hope that COP28 will hasten the issuance of sustainable bonds shortly.

“Given that 51% of sustainable issuances in the Gulf region take the form of bonds, there is a strong expectation that they will benefit significantly from the heightened awareness being cultivated by COP28,” the official stated further.

Al-Natoor emphasised in remarks to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) the notable rise of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) bonds in the United Arab Emirates, which is expected to reach USD 6.4 billion by the third quarter of 2023, up 41% from USD 4.5 billion in the previous quarter.

He emphasised that ESG bonds issued in the United Arab Emirates account for over 30% of all ESG bonds rated by Fitch Ratings and represent over 19% of the worldwide ESG bond market.

Al-Natoor went on to say, “The UAE emerged as the leading issuer of sustainable bonds globally during the third quarter of 2023, contributing USD 1.8 billion or approximately 80% of the global total, which stood at USD 2.3 billion.”

He emphasised how crucial the UAE is to the advancement of governmental programmes and sustainability measures, especially in 2023. He pointed out that the timeliness of these projects varies, with some producing rewards right now and others having long-term advantages.

Al-Natoor emphasised that the UAE’s Islamic finance is expected to benefit from COP28, pointing out that by the 2022 end, Islamic financing would have contributed about 29% of all funding for the banking industry. Institutions in the United Arab Emirates are acknowledged as prominent investors and issuers of Sukuk, or Islamic bonds, and they are instrumental in setting up Sukuk issuances.

All sustainable issuances evaluated by Fitch in the United Arab Emirates, he said, fall within the “investment grade” category. Of these, about 35% are related to financial institutions, 25% are companies and infrastructure projects, and 38% are other companies and sectors.

Al-Natoor made the following statement about green issuances: “Globally, green issuances constitute about 45% of the total ESG issuances during the third quarter of 2023.”

According to him, green Sukuk is a subset of ESG issuances that includes social, sustainable, blue (water-related), and green issuances.

He discussed the notable rise of the well-known ESG sukuk around the world, which increased by 66% a year to USD 33.3 billion in the last quarter of 2023. According to Fitch, Saudi Arabia has the largest percentage of established ESG sukuk issuances (48.1%), followed by the United Arab Emirates (30.5%), Indonesia (19.6%), and Turkey (1.8%).

The post COP28 to accelerate revolution in sustainable bond market appeared first on International Finance.