And make it electric? Electrifying Israel’s railway system may cause too much electromagnetic radiation experts warn. Israel’s local and national rail services have often been featured on Green Prophet ever since Jerusalem’s light rail service was completed in 2010, and another light rail line proposed for the coastal city of Tel Aviv .Its national rail service, […]
On Thursday, Dec. 20, Tzipi Livni’s new party, The Movement, stated that environmental reforms will be key components of their platform in the January 2013 Israeli elections. They propose passing a Basic Law for environmental protection, and a long-term blueprint for the Israeli energy market. Livni presented The Movement’s environmental agenda together with Green […]
Caught by Kolbotek’s hidden camera: a former dairy cow gets shocked on the way to being slaughtered Following the TV exposure of severe animal abuse in Israel at the Tnuva Adom Adom livestock slaughterhouse a public outcry has been raised among Israel animal rights activists over the cruel tactics used on livestock brought there for […]
Palestinian villagers have joined forces with Israeli environmentalists to stop the separation wall from destroying ancient agricultural artefacts which will soon be declared a world heritage site by UNESCO Ancient stone-walled terraces and a unique natural irrigation system in the village of Battir near Bethlehem may have been spared destruction from an Israeli metal and […]
Israel’s high court has ordered the state to come up with an alternative to a separation fence that would have threatened valuable agricultural land in the West Bank. The fence was planned for an area near Battir that Palestinians have been farming for hundreds of years using traditional techniques, but in a historic provisional ruling, […]
In a well-meaning effort to rid Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other emirates from plastic bags, the United Arab Emirates government has banned the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags. Instead, it will be mandatory for business across all seven emirates to offer their clients the biodegradable variety starting 1 January, 2013. But critics worry that these […]
It has been just 17 months since McDonalds announced its intention to recycle all of its vegetable oil for use as biofuel in its own fleet. Officially launched in July, 2011, the United Arab Emirates’ biodiesel program – the first of its kind in the region – appears to be a soaring success. The McDonald’s fleet […]
Lebanon celebrated its Arbor Day on December 7. Activists, students and environmentalists gathered in open spaces to plant trees. Recent years have seen growing grassroots and government efforts to preserve Lebanon’s famed cedar forests, but there has been scant attention paid to rare juniper trees. There is currently no law to protect the vanishing Lebanese […]
Although just about everybody at the COP18 climate talks in Doha, Qatar, understood the importance of arresting climate change following a slew of recent reports that show temperatures and sea levels rising faster than we imagined, the conference closes today without a commitment to cut a single pound of CO2 emissions. The reasons for that […]
Consequences of climate change especially acute in the Arab world, and traditional methods for coping with climate are severely stressed finds new World Bank assessment. All eyes are on Qatar now as the country hosts the UN-sponsored climate change event COP18. We’ve been reporting on COP18 before it began and during, and recently posted about […]
Activists have gathered at the global COP18 climate event in Doha, Qatar to press negotiators to put aside money from a ‘Robin Hood tax” to boost the climate change fund. Evoking the legend of England’s Robin Hood, who either stole from or persuaded the rich to help the poor depending on which story one believes, a […]
With the world’s fourth largest number of planned coal-fired power plants, Turkey is flouting international concern about climate change. As the United Nation’s climate change talks in Doha enter their second day, Turkey has been called out on its irresponsible climate policies with the “Fossil of the Day” award. Although Turkey has kept a low […]
The United States is poised to become the world’s largest oil producer by 2020 thanks to increased output of new exploration technologies such as fracking. But what does this mean for politics? The World Energy Outlook 2012 released by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that America will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as […]
Negotiators working on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol in Qatar ought to know that 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon lie buried in the permafrost, which is double the amount that currently wreaks so much havoc here on earth, reports UNEP. Then, as arctic temperatures rise as a result of global warming and the permafrost melts, […]
Investing in African Agriculture This past April, MASHAV, Israel’s agency for international development cooperation, signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The memorandum is aimed at addressing food security through partnerships with farmers in Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda. Israel will contribute expertise in irrigation, water technologies, agricultural […]