A film depicting Cairo’s recyclers in garbage city is in the running to receive one of the film world’s most distinguished honors. An independent documentary that depicts the harrowing and honorable life of a family of Coptic Christian trash workers living in Cairo’s garbage city was recently named “Project of the Week” by IndieWire – […]
The Arab Spring in Egypt has been a failure for sharks. Since last year’s political uprising, and consequent deterioration of law enforcement, poachers supplying restaurants with illicit shark fins have driven the Red Sea shark population down by as much as 80 percent, reports Egypt Independent. In 2006, laws prohibiting trading in sharks were passed, […]
Egypt’s green environmental party was founded 25 years ago for green and social change – long before the Arab Spring. The Green Party is working to show Egyptians and the Arab world the connection between their issues and the environment. The year 2011 will probably be remembered as the year of the Arab Spring. And […]
2011 was a big year for the Middle East – not only politically but also environmentally. Step in to see 10 of our most popular stories. Much has been said about the great political upheavals that swept through the Middle East in 2011 – some for good and some for nought – but less attention […]
The future of the Nile River still hangs in the balance, but at least a team of experts are committed to evaluating the potential impact of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam. The politics surrounding Ethiopia’s Grand Millennium Renaissance Dam changes only slightly more frequently than the project’s name, and we are excited to bring you one […]
Free hot water from the sun. Cyprus now leads the way. Although China leads the world in the number of solar water heaters in use, and Israel was the pioneer and chief country-wide user of solar water heaters for 25 years, today the Republic of Cyprus has the distinction of being the world leader of […]
Dirty, polluted, and badly managed: Understanding Cairo, The Logic of a City Out of Control goes beyond the usual rhetoric “The Egyptian middle classes and intelligentsia, as well as a sizable slice of the foreign community, love to deplore what Cairo has become. Crowds and congestion, pollution, garbage, chaos, gridlocked traffic, horrendous architecture, and no […]
Funds for mitigation projects and the Carbon Development Mechanism saved in “Hail Mary pass” at climate talks While many environmentalists are decrying the COP17 climate talks (# COP17FAIL: Climate Change is a One-Size-Fits-All Problem) as being imperfect, I see some real progress hidden in all that bureaucratese. For MENA (Middle East and North Africa) nations, the best […]
Often-ridiculed craft with ancient Middle Eastern roots serves as gentle conduit to change. It’s pretty much agreed that the origins of knitting are placed somewhere in the Middle East. The craft spread to Europe via Mediterranean trade routes, then on to the Americas with European colonization. Some of the earliest examples of knitting have been found in […]
Even as the country tries to sort out its new political identity following the first democratic elections in decades, Egypt is forging ahead with its wind power plans. Big time. As part of its target of going from its current 550MW of wind to a staggering 2,690MW by 2016 to reach 7,200MW by 2020, Egypt is putting […]
Before now, the environment has been glaringly absent from Egypt’s political agenda, but our friends over at Almasry Alyoum have compiled a fantastic list of would-be parliamentarians who seek to change that. Until now, the environment has never been on Egypt’s political agenda, but today’s parliamentary elections – albeit fraught with undue complexity and fears […]
Trying to “talk to God” a passenger tried to open plane’s emergency door mid-flight. The Grand Mufti of Egypt is considered “very green” according to our analyst Moshe Terdiman. But a mishap aboard a flight to Cairo last week could have cost him his life. Our friend Jon Jenson at the Global Post picked up […]
Aquaculture, especially in ponds, may help preserve ocean fish species Catching wild fish in the sea is now threatening to deplete many fish species from the world’s seas and oceans, including illegal tuna fishing in the Mediterranean Sea. With world population figures now topping 7 billion, an increasing demand is being made for fresh fish […]
Students from the American University of Cairo designed SLIDES – a solar-powered modular home that is slated to compete in next years Solar Decathlon, but lack of financial support could keep this groundbreaking project from being realized. When students from the American University of Cairo were accepted to compete in the 2012 Solar Decathlon design […]
These women in the Siwa oasis near Libya are trained in the traditional craft of weaving Kleem (rugs). Tafline takes a rare inside look at their work. You might have already read about the first part of our journey where our bus kept breaking down on the road to Siwa. When our host Yehia secured […]