The wonderful thing about living in the Middle East is that we have so many holidays each year. But we like to celebrate the earth-friendly way, so check out our suggestions for good places to buy sustainable gifts. We know most of our readers are unlikely to buy into the mad consumer rush that Christmas […]
Green Bar makes local, natural beauty products in an industry pumped with chemicals and toxic preservatives. It’s tough enough being a woman without having to worry about nasty preservatives in cosmetics, or the loads of other bad things pumped into beauty products. The natural world is filled with plants and flowers that have been used […]
UN scientists say rapid coastal development, booming populations and the fossil fuel industry is wreaking havoc in the Arabian Gulf The Arabian Gulf, which is also known as the Persian Gulf, is a semi-enclosed area of sea in the Middle East region that has eight bordering countries from Iraq down to Oman. As a major […]
Gulf States have been drilling oil for decades now. Can we really get them to co-operate at the upcoming climate summit in Durban and re-think oil? Climate negotiations to get world leaders to agree to a fair and binding agreement that will keep climate change in check have been ticking away in the background for […]
Akko in Israel is just one important World Heritage Site in the Middle East region that could suffer from the United States’ decision to withhold funding to UNESCO following the admittance of Palestine as a member state. Department of State spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that the United States will “refrain from making contributions to UNESCO […]
Catch up on the green stories from Middle East you may have missed this week It’s certainly been a busy week of green news and our team of Green Prophet reporters have been working hard to get the latest to you. From Lebanon’s embrace of the car to the continuing water problems for Egypt’s Nile, […]
Energy subsidies keeping petrol and electricity prices low in the Middle East are jeopardizing the chances of renewable energy projects The Middle East may be unique for many reason- the stunning souks, the hospitality of the people and explosive political mentality- but they are probably known for just one thing: oil. Indeed, Gulf nations have […]
Over the last thirty years, carbon emissions in North Africa and the Middle East (MENA) have doubled with citizens in the Gulf states producing up to 10 times the amount of CO2 as the average global citizen Awareness of the dangers of climate change may be on the increase in the Middle East but action […]
Although Ramadan is now officially over, Bahrain’s Information Affairs Agency (IAA) raised $4 million for famine-struck Somalis in keeping with their “religious, moral, and patriotic duty.” The Horn of Africa famine has already claimed 29,000 children under the age of five and shows no signs of abating. The images of emaciated babies with bones piercing […]
Carboun, an organisation which promotes sustainability in the Middle East, has produced its first infographic which does a great job of mapping out the region’s carbon emissions I am huge fan of infographics – information as graphics – for the simple reason that they are a great way to get a handle on lots of […]
Outside temperatures often reach into the mid-fifties (celsius!) during Middle East summers. Construction workers feel the heat. Behind every glamorous building in Dubai are hundreds of mostly South Asian workers. Yesterday, during a ten kilometer city hike from the Burj Khalifa to Bur Dubai, the quality of life for nearly half of the Emirate’s population […]
The three winners from the Middle East/MENA region are Tunisia, Bahrain and Qatar in new survey on tourism trends. The recently released 2011 “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness”report by the World Economic Forum, in co-operation with Booz & Company, reveals some interesting dynamics in the global tourism industry, including a shift to the East, with Central and […]
Six Gulf states hook up for profit A few years late, phase two of the long-planned GCC Grid was inaugurated this week. When all four sections are complete it will unite the six Gulf nations on one unified electric grid, making it much easier to build and share power from renewable energy sources, and realize […]
Car parts, scrap metal, fish and produce from Japan won’t enter Egyptian ports. Traces of radiation, likely from Japan, have been clocked at Israel’s nuclear research station, and Bahrain is building a contingency plan should radiation levels spiral further out of control in Japan. Now, Egypt has declared that it will halt all import of […]
Bahrain (A) will screen Japanese travelers (B) at airport if radiation levels rise. It goes without saying that radiation, like air and water pollution knows no borders. Countries close to Japan, and even those farther away like Israel and the United States have already measured radiation from Japan’s troubled nuclear reactors. Now Bahrain authorities, a […]