Water investments between an oil nation and a startup nation

mars-science-city-skylight
Watery skylight in Mars Science City

A first-of-its-kind agreement was signed in Abu Dhabi on June 1 to launch a joint Israeli-Emirati Water Research Institute. We predicted all these wonderful new water alliances after peace between Israel and the UAE was forged

The new water research institute is being established as part of a strategic commercial collaboration between Watergen, an Israeli water-from-air technology company, and Baynunah, a sister company of Al Dahra Group, an Emirati agriculture group that specializes in food security. It will be working in close collaboration with the Moshe Mirilashvili Institute for Applied Water Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Professor Milette Shamir from Tel Aviv University said: “Research at the joint water institute will build on our special academic strengths and will open a path for collaboration with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in other mutual areas of research, as well as to student and faculty exchange programs.”

milette shamir

Besides academic cooperation, Watergen and Baynunah laid the cornerstone for a Watergen production facility in the UAE. This joint venture will commercialize Watergen products in the UAE, the Gulf States, and Africa.

This joint venture has already been collaborating with the Abu Dhabi municipality, leading to dozens of Watergen devices already deployed around the city for the benefit of its residents, forming the initial stage of one of this joint venture missions: to deploy thousands of Watergen devices all across the UAE. 

Watergen’s innovative technology enables the production of top-quality pure and fresh drinking water solely from the air. Its devices use a standard connection to electricity or other alternative energy sources such as solar panels and can produce up to 6,000 liters of top-quality pure drinking water per day. One of Green Prophet’s criticisms of the technology is that it requires a significant energy input. 

watergen water from think air
A Watergen unit

Today, Watergen’s devices are deployed in more than 80 countries around the world and are located in remote villages, hospitals, city centers, public parks, schools, office buildings, and even in disaster-struck areas. The partnership between Watergen and Baynunah expends the commercial footprint of Watergen in the region, while serving as a catalyst in strengthening the ties between the two nations.   

Peaceful projects built under US-brokered Abraham Accords

“The Abraham Accords have given countries in the Middle East the opportunity to improve and advance relations in various fields,” says Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, Watergen’s President and CEO. “Thanks to the agreements, we — an Israeli company — are able to cooperate with our Middle East neighbors to solve one the region’s difficult problems, water scarcity.

al dahra

“Throughout history, conflicts have often been centered around controlling water sources. Today we are doing the opposite: building peace and a common future around a groundbreaking Israeli technology that will provide a plug-and-play solution which allows all residents of the UAE and the world an unlimited access to off-grid, top-quality, and pure drinking water.”

Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloostermanhttp://www.greenprophet.com
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]

TRENDING

Earth building with Dead Sea salt bricks

Researchers develop a brick made largely from recycled Dead Sea salt—offering a potential alternative to carbon-intensive cement.

Farm To Table Israel Connects People To The Land

Farm To Table Israel is transforming the traditional dining experience into a hands-on journey.

Remilk makes cloned milk so cows don’t need to suffer and it’s hormone-free

This week, Israel’s precision-fermentation milk from Remilk is finally appearing on supermarket shelves. Staff members have been posting photos in Hebrew, smiling, tasting, and clearly enjoying the moment — not because it’s science fiction, but because it tastes like the real thing.

An Army of Healers Wins the 2025 IIE Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East

In a region more accustomed to headlines of loss than of listening, the Institute of International Education (IIE) has chosen to honor something quietly radical: healing. The 2025 Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East has been awarded to Nitsan Joy Gordon and Jawdat Lajon Kasab, the co-founders of the Army of Healers, for building spaces where Israelis and Palestinians — Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bedouins — can grieve, speak, and rebuild trust together.

Peace hospital opens between Jordan and Israel

The proposed medical centre, described by Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council head Itamar Matiash as “a centre for cancer treatment, so that people from Jordan or further away could come and receive treatment,” would become the flagship of a wider cluster of medical, academic and innovation-based services planned for the Israeli half of the zone.

Qatar’s climate hypocrisy rides the London Underground

Qatar remains a master of doublethink—burning gas by the megaton while selling “sustainability” to a world desperate for clean air. Wake up from your slumber people.

How Quality of Hire Shapes Modern Recruitment

A 2024 survey by Deloitte found that 76% of talent leaders now consider long-term retention and workforce contribution among their most important hiring success metrics—far surpassing time-to-fill or cost-per-hire. As the expectations for new hires deepen, companies must also confront the inherent challenges in redefining and accurately measuring hiring quality.

8 Team-Building Exercises to Start the Week Off 

Team building to change the world! The best renewable energy companies are ones that function.

Thank you, LinkedIn — and what your Jobs on the Rise report means for sustainable careers

While “green jobs” aren’t always labeled as such, many of the fastest-growing roles are directly enabling the energy transition, climate resilience, and lower-carbon systems: Number one on their list is Artificial Intelligence engineers. But what does that mean? Vibe coding Claude? 

Somali pirates steal oil tankers

The pirates often stage their heists out of Somalia, a lawless country, with a weak central government that is grappling with a violent Islamist insurgency. Using speedboats that swarm the targets, the machine-gun-toting pirates take control of merchant ships and then hold the vessels, crew and cargo for ransom.

Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt López Turned Ocean Plastic Into Profitable Sunglasses

Few fashion accessories carry the environmental burden of sunglasses. Most frames are constructed from petroleum-based plastics and acrylic polymers that linger in landfills for centuries, shedding microplastics into soil and waterways long after they've been discarded. Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt López, president of the Spanish eyewear brand Hawkers, saw this problem differently than most industry executives.

Why Dr. Tony Jacob Sees Texas Business Egos as Warning Signs

Everything's bigger in Texas. Except business egos.  Dr. Tony Jacob figured...

Israel and America Sign Renewable Energy Cooperation Deal

Other announcements made at the conference include the Timna Renewable Energy Park, which will be a center for R&D, and the AORA Solar Thermal Module at Kibbutz Samar, the world's first commercial hybrid solar gas-turbine power plant that is already nearing completion. Solel Solar Systems announced it was beginning construction of a 50 MW solar field in Lebrija, Spain, and Brightsource Energy made a pre-conference announcement that it had inked the world's largest solar deal to date with Southern California Edison (SCE).

Related Articles

Popular Categories