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Al Etihad
3 hours ago
- Al Etihad
ADNEC Group awarded UAE Year of Sustainability Seal for landmark progress on green initiatives
21 Aug 2025 00:54 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)ADNEC Group has been officially recognised with the 'Plan to Action: Year of Sustainability's Seal' for its tangible, data-backed achievements in environmental stewardship and sustainable innovation. The award was granted following a national open call to UAE-based organisations demonstrating measurable, creative, and community-driven sustainability efforts aligned with the goals of the Year of Sustainability seal, awarded through the UAE's Year of Sustainability initiative, marks a continuation of the national drive to embed sustainable actions across all sectors. This year's focus shifted from learning to doing, encouraging organisations to act across four areas: green transport, energy and water conservation, responsible consumption, and planting wisely. ADNEC Group's submission was recognised for its ambitious, system-wide sustainability efforts. ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi is now fully powered by clean energy - sourced from solar, wind, and nuclear - through a Clean Energy Trade Agreement with EWEC. This offsets all electricity-related carbon emissions via International Renewable Energy Certificates (IRECs) accredited by the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, making it the first and largest event venue in the Middle East to achieve this milestone. In parallel, the group has introduced AI-driven HVAC systems at the venue, projected to reduce annual electricity consumption by 20%, or approximately 6 million kilowatt reduction and circularity have become central to the group's operations. More than half of all waste across ADNEC Group's business clusters is now recycled, and, the catering arm of the ADNEC Group, Capital Catering's facilities process up to 1,200 kg of food waste per day into compost or a dry soil enhancer. Used cooking oil is also converted into biodiesel. Meanwhile, TerraTile - a 100% recycled, modular flooring system developed with Terrax -turns event waste into durable flooring, offering a recyclable, UAE-made alternative to conventional stand materials. Additionally, when TerraTiles reach the end of their life cycle, they, in turn, can be recycled to produce new engagement was a key element of ADNEC Group's application. Through partnerships with Tadweer, Ne'ma, and the UAE Red Crescent, the group donates unserved food, expands public awareness campaigns, and encourages responsible waste behaviours at 2024, ADNEC Group contributed Dh8.566 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) to Abu Dhabi's economy, marking a significant increase from Dh7.4 billion in 2023. The group also supported more than 62,000 jobs across the UAE - up from approximately 51,000 the previous year. Additionally, employee volunteerism nearly doubled year-on-year, with total volunteer hours reaching close to 27,000 in 2024 compared to 13,000 in 2023, underscoring ADNEC Group's growing social and economic recognition from the Year of Sustainability reflects ADNEC Group's broader Net Zero strategy, which includes a full assessment of Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and a defined transition plan aiming for a 25% reduction in carbon footprint per employee by 2030. ADNEC Group has also awarded a rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) project at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, expected to generate more than 8.5 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy in its first year.


The National
4 hours ago
- The National
Fed minutes: Inflation outweighs employment concerns in divided decision
Federal Reserve officials were concerned in July about the effect that tariffs would have on inflation and unemployment, although minutes released from the meeting showed on Wednesday that a large majority found it too soon to begin cutting interest rates. The minutes underscored the division within the central bank, which voted to maintain its target interest rate range at 4.25 to 4.50 per cent despite two Fed officials voting to reduce the rate. The UAE Central Bank, which follows the Fed's decisions due to the dollar peg, also maintained rates after the announcement on July 30. The July meeting minutes showed 'almost all' Fed officials supported the decision. US President Donald Trump's tariff agenda has weighed heavily on the Fed this year. Officials entered last month's meeting debating whether tariffs would have a greater impact on inflation, which still remains above the Fed's 2 per cent target, or on its employment mandate. The minutes appeared to suggested that Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman – two Trump appointments reported to be in consideration as the next Fed chief – were alone in their dissent. 'A majority of participants judged the upside risk to inflation as the greater of these two risks, while several participants viewed the two risks as roughly balanced, and a couple of participants considered downside risk to employment the more salient risk,' the minutes read. Fed chairman Jerome Powell delivered a hawkish sentiment when speaking to reporters after the decision, suggesting that the Fed could continue to delay cutting rates as it awaited further clarity on how tariffs would affect inflation. 'When we have risks to both goals, and one of them is farther away from goal than the other, and that's inflation, that means policy should be tight, because tight policy is what brings inflation down,' Mr Powell said at the time. A dismal jobs report released two days after the meeting drastically changed the rate-cut calculus expected to play out later this year. The report showed that not only had employers added fewer jobs than expected in July, but significant downwards revisions from previous months pointed to signs of a weakening labour market. Adding to the mixed messages the Fed has received, underlying inflation data has also come in hotter than expected since July. The report from the Bureau of Labour and Statistics showed that prices for imported items such as household furnishing, apparel and recreational goods all increased last month, while medical care services and airfare prices were also higher than previous. Wholesale inflation data also saw its biggest increase in three years in July, in another sign that companies are raising their prices to offset higher costs. Those reports have done little to dent expectations of a September rate cut, however. About 83 per cent of traders believe the Fed will resuming cutting rates next month, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, before reducing policy again in December. 'The labour market will be the swing factor on whether the Fed cuts interest rates in September or not,' Oxford Economics chief US economist Ryan Sweet wrote to clients. The minutes come at a crucial time for Mr Powell, who is due to deliver a keynote address at the annual Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming on Friday. Mr Powell will deliver the highly anticipated speech under pressure on several fronts from Mr Trump, the two dissenting Fed governors and the looming arrival of a key Trump ally to the Federal Reserve board. Friday's address during the annual gathering, attended by central bankers from around the world, is expected to include Mr Powell's short-term and long-term views on monetary policy. Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Trump opened a new line of attack on the US central bank, calling for the resignation of Fed governor Lisa Cook after one of his allies accused her of mortgage fraud. Ms Cook's term as Fed governor expires in 2038. Together they, along with a rotating group of regional fed bank presidents, make up the Federal Open Market Committee that sets its interest rates. The move follows a pattern of attempts by Mr Trump to exert control of the Fed, whose independence is generally considered sacrosanct among economists and policymakers


The National
6 hours ago
- The National
Sudan mediators urge rivals to ease worsening aid crisis
Sudan is in the grip of a worsening humanitarian crisis with ever more people facing 'severe malnutrition and famine', a group of peace brokers including the UAE has warned. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the US and Switzerland said the Sudanese people's needs were reaching 'critical levels'. They made seven demands to the combatants in Sudan's civil war – the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – to help ease the crisis. The demands include keeping key routes open for aid convoys, such as roads to the stricken Darfur region where prosecutors in The Hague have alleged war crimes. The rival powers are urged to 'lift all bureaucratic impediments' affecting aid. The two warring sides are told to 'ensure safe passage for civilians to access assistance', and guarantee that aid workers will not face retaliation if they lend assistance in areas held by their rivals. They should also 'allow and facilitate a sustained UN humanitarian presence', particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, restore communications across Sudan, and 'ensure the protection of critical civilian infrastructure' such as energy and water, the countries said. The civil war in Sudan has been raging since April 2023. In recent months the country has found itself effectively divided between two rival governments after the RSF established an administration in areas under its control. Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan moved this week to place allied fighters under the military's control. The UAE and its four partners, along with the UN and African Union, have acted as go-betweens in the conflict. After talks in Geneva last year they named themselves the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (Alps) Group – a nod to the Swiss hosts. They called on fighters to abide by commitments they made in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2023 to protect Sudan's people. The combatants had pledged to avoid attacks on civilians and allow them to leave besieged areas. 'The Alps coalition is appalled by the continuous deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Sudan, including the growing number of people in situations of severe malnutrition and famine,' the countries said on Wednesday. 'Civilians continue to pay the highest price for this war. With the situation in Sudan worsening and humanitarian needs reaching critical levels, urgent action is needed by the conflict parties to protect civilians and allow and facilitate humanitarian access to those in need.'