An environmental awareness campaign is subverted by Jordan’s “aniti-normalisation” groups. Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) are renowned for reaching across political borders to address environmental concerns that know no borders. For years, in spite of the political aura, Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians have worked together to monitor and protect the imperiled Jordan River, […]
Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources sees desalination as a solution to future water shortages. Egypt and Bahrain are looking at a cooperation agreement that will enable both countries to develop water desalination projects between the two countries, Egypt’s water resources and irrigation ministry confirmed to Bikya Masr on Tuesday. “We believe that the future water […]
Islamic ministers from 30 organizations and countries will get together early October in order to put the environment back on the political map. Tunisia will host a conference of Islamic environment ministers in early October to look at how environmental issues can be impacted from a governmental perspective. The 4th Islamic environment ministers conference will […]
Businesses in Dubai interested in reducing their carbon footprint should become consult their food map and source food locally. Not far from Dubai, the Abu Dhabi eco-chicks arrange nights out and other eco-centric activities that coalesce the emirate’s green minds. They have also created a user-friendly map to make organic and sustainable businesses easier to […]
In an effort to improve awareness of MDGs, a joint UN program arms Egyptian children with cameras. Last week’s UN Development Summit in New York kicked up significant MDG dust. What the Millennium Development Goals – adopted by 188 countries in September 2010 – represent, and whether or not we have any hope of achieving […]
The California Energy Commission ruled that climate change and energy needs are more important than plants and tortoises. Confronting the joint need to protect biodiversity while expanding alternative energy projects, after three years of deliberation, a fourth BrightSource Energy Concentrated Solar Power Plant was approved by California’s Energy Commission. Impeding approval of the Israeli company’s […]
The first Arab country to create one, Morocco’s new charter provides a blueprint for environmental protection and sustainable energy production. In a first for the Arab world, the Moroccan government announced a National Charter for Environment and Sustainable Development, becoming the first African country to launch any such ambitions. It is part of the country’s […]
Is this a mirage, or does Chilean Fernando Fischmann really intend to build the world’s largest artificial lagoon on the already ecologically-sensitive Red Sea? In Egypt there will be more artificial fun for rich men and women while the poor can’t even trust that their tap water is safe, that their waste will be disposed […]
Saudi Aramco claims to have an 80-yr steady supply of oil or more, while a German thinktank predicts that “peak oil” is imminent. Despite Bill McKibben’s pleas to reduce the amount of carbon in our atmosphere to 350 parts per million, or face serious consequences, and despite the myriad innovations worldwide aimed at shrinking our […]
Is it the story like the cobbler who doesn’t wear shoes? Government regulated oil prices are forcing Dubai companies to charge lower fees than they pay to import the gas. Now, gas retailers in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are finding it hard to deal with rising prices and government price controls. Emarat, one […]
Using constructed wetlands is one alternative to be addressed at the IQPC wastewater conference in Cairo this October. As Egypt’s population increases, it puts pressure on the country’s main water source: the Nile River. In addition to general pollution from agricultural runoff and other pollutants, the recent diesel spill north of Aswan demonstrates the challenges […]
Zonzoo and Enviroserve recycle cell phones, earning donors a bit of good, “green” cash. When old cell phone batteries peter out and new models are just too hard to resist, many people chuck leave their old phones languishing in a drawer or chuck them in the trash bin. From there they are transported and dumped […]
The tourism and minerals industry, as well as the Tamar Regional Council, argue over who must take responsibilities for what environmentalists call all “ecological disaster.” Take the most beautiful blue blown-glass vase designed with divine providence, throw it against a wall, and watch it shatter into hundreds of pieces. Then, try to glue it back […]
Activists are pulling out all the stops ahead of a development summit at UN headquarters on 20-22 September. Pro-aid and anti-poverty lobbyists are trying everything from giant letters to banging pans to raise awareness of the high-level event. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) suffer from a lack of widespread public recognition, not least in the […]
Will the Nile River diesel spill bolster lower nations’ claims to the river? Who has rights to the Nile’s sometimes polluted water is under dispute, catering as it does to numerous nations up and down its long and winding length. Egypt has kept control, but other African nations are beginning to stand up to claim […]