Have we forgotten about global warming when the world is getting increasingly hotter? The planet has just passed through the hottest 11-year stretch ever measured, and scientists say the pattern is no longer a temporary spike.

A new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirms that the last 11 years from 2015 to 2025 are the warmest on record for Planet Earth. This aligns with independent analyses from groups such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA, all pointing to the same conclusion: global temperatures are rising steadily. This is not a blip or an episode we can blame on El Niño alone.

For the first time, the WMO report highlights a key metric that explains why and it’s about Earth’s energy imbalance. Scientists have measured the difference between incoming solar radiation and the heat Earth emits back into space. That imbalance is now at its highest level since observations began around 1960.

“The energy imbalance is the most fundamental measure of climate change,” says James Hansen, one of the first scientists to warn publicly about global warming.

Research published in Nature Climate Change and related journals shows that this imbalance has been accelerating, driven primarily by greenhouse gas emissions. Hansen says this year will be particularly warm because of a projected Super El Niño. 

In practical terms, Earth is absorbing more heat than it can release. The excess energy doesn’t disappear it accumulates, and right now that is mostly happening in the oceans. This leads to coral bleaching, and other effects that can kill great deals of fish and important sea life.

At the same time, atmospheric carbon dioxide has reached unprecedented levels. According to data compiled by the WMO and NOAA, CO₂ concentrations in 2024 were higher than at any point in at least two million years, based on ice core and sediment records. This sharp increase is directly linked to the continued burning of fossil fuels and land-use changes.

The consequences are already visible. A growing body of research in journals such as Nature and Nature Geoscience shows that more than 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases is stored in the oceans. This hidden warming drives marine heatwaves, coral bleaching, and changes in ocean circulation.

It also amplifies extreme weather on land. Warmer oceans feed more powerful storms, while higher atmospheric temperatures increase the intensity of rainfall and drought cycles. Wildfire seasons are lengthening, and heatwaves are becoming more frequent and severe.

Scientists emphasize that the concept of energy imbalance helps explain why warming continues even when year-to-year temperatures fluctuate. “As long as the planet is out of energy balance, more warming is in the pipeline,” Hansen and colleagues have noted in recent studies.

This means the last decade is a new baseline and there will be cascading effects across ecosystems, water systems, agriculture and human health.

As the world fights over oil dominance and terror in the Strait of Hormuz we should see this as a distraction for big oil and big money. We should be investing in companies like Peak (creating batteries from salt) and Helion Energy, to usher in a dawn of abundance and prosperity that doesn’t need to offset from the get-go.

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For centuries people living in hot climates have tried to cool buildings without electricity. Long before air conditioning, architecture itself acted as the cooling system. It’s called using passive energy. In Iran, for example, traditional homes used wind catchers, known as badgirs, tall towers that captured breezes and funneled cooler air down into homes. These passive ventilation systems have been used for thousands of years across the Middle East and can naturally cool buildings by directing airflow and expelling hot air.

In hot climates like the Middle East and North Africa, homes were also designed around inner courtyards with pools and shaded gardens, allowing for privacy, but also for cool air to circulate through thick mud-brick walls and shaded spaces during the day. In some cases, underground spaces connected to aqueducts or water channels were used to further cool incoming air before it entered the building.

Modern sustainable architecture has tried to rediscover these ancient ideas. Over the years we have covered everything from white roof paint that reflects sunlight to experimental passive cooling materials designed to reduce air-conditioning demand.

Now an Israeli startup says it may have taken the idea a step further: cooling surfaces using sunlight itself.

SolCold, a climate-tech company based in Ness Ziona, Israel, has developed a nanotechnology coating that actively cools surfaces when exposed to sunlight. The company was founded in 2016 by Yaron Shenhav and Dr. Yaron Shenhav (co-founder and CEO), based on research originating at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The coating can be applied to buildings, vehicles, shipping containers and even fabrics. When sunlight hits the material, it triggers a physical process that reflects most solar radiation, converts absorbed heat energy into light, and releases heat through radiative cooling. Sort of the way you cool down after you pop into the water and then stand in the air.

Unlike traditional reflective coatings or “cool roof” paints, which simply bounce sunlight away, SolCold’s technology actively removes heat from the surface. In direct sunlight, coated objects can become cooler than the surrounding air.

The hotter the environment and the stronger the sun, the stronger the cooling effect. In laboratory tests the coating has demonstrated temperature reductions of up to about 20°C below ambient conditions.

The company says the technology could significantly reduce air-conditioning demand in buildings, cut energy use in refrigerated shipping containers, and help lower the urban heat island effect that traps heat in cities.

SolCold has raised several million dollars in venture funding, with investors including the Israel Innovation Authority and private climate-tech investors, and has conducted dozens of pilot projects with global automotive and industrial companies, testing the coating on vehicles and equipment exposed to intense sunlight. Major global manufacturers have reportedly tested the technology for use on vehicles and industrial equipment exposed to heat.

The company is entering a growing field of passive cooling and reflective materials, competing with technologies such as cool roof coatings from companies like Cool Roof Rating Council partners, radiative cooling materials developed at Stanford and MIT, and reflective paints such as those commercialized by PPG and other building-materials manufacturers.

Its first product named “Glacier 110,” is an opaque, white solid film with a thickness of 350 µm, an area density of 0.3 kg/m_2, and is highly durable, lasting for ten years in high-performance applications. The material’s optimal cooling power is 70W/m₂ – 170 W/m₂ at noon in summertime. It can be used on buses to keep occupants cool, for instance.

Glacier 110 has four layers: a smart filter that lets 1% of heat pass through it, an anti-stokes layer, a radiative cooling layer, and a mirror layer. The coating maintains a low ambient temperature throughout its entire architecture.

The main benefits of the company’s innovative products include zero electricity and fuel consumption and zero carbon emissions. Used in clothing, it protects the health of the wearer.

If the technology scales commercially, coatings that turn sunlight into cooling power could offer a modern, high-tech counterpart to the ancient passive cooling systems that shaped desert architecture for centuries.

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The internet runs on video, and people are addicted to doom scrolling. What if you had the power to turn nonsense into meaning? A short clip filmed on an iphone can circle the planet in minutes, inspiring millions to save animals abandoned in Dubai, or they can spread panic. For environmental storytellers and citizen journalists this is powerful territory and there is a lesson to be learned. You know that a video you create can expose oil pollution in a river, highlight a desert farm growing food with almost no water, or introduce a new climate technology that runs on air and that most people have never heard about.

Environmental creators are in a unique position because many of the stories worth telling are happening outside: in deserts, forests, coastlines and cities adapting to climate change. These stories deserve attention, but they should also be filmed responsibly.

The first rule of sustainable video production is surprisingly simple: film local, and use your travel opportunities to take footage from new places. You might not use it today, but it can be your B-roll or inspiration for tomorrow. Flying a production team halfway around the world for a short clip carries a large carbon footprint and content creators don’t need to do this anymore. You can write a film, direct a film narrate and edit a film, all with tools that are within reach.

Online video editor tools can help simplify this process. Platforms such as Clideo allow creators to trim clips, resize videos and compress large files so they are easier to share online. This reduces storage requirements and speeds up publishing while maintaining quality. Mobile creators can also edit footage directly on their phones using the Clideo Video Editor, which removes the need for large desktop editing systems.

And the most compelling sustainability stories are those happening locally and which affect you personally. A water reuse project in your city, a community compost initiative, regenerative agriculture, a rooftop farm, or a new solar installation can all make powerful visual stories without the need for heavy travel, and chances are you can get interviews with the main players, because some of them might be your friends and family.

Natural lighting is another sustainability trick filmmakers have used for decades. The sun provides beautiful lighting conditions that often look more authentic than studio lights while reducing energy use. Planning your shots before filming also reduces wasted footage and unnecessary battery use.

Creators filming in nature should follow ethical guidelines as well. Wildlife should never be disturbed or baited for dramatic footage. Sensitive ecosystems like nesting areas, coral reefs or desert habitats should be treated with care and not walked upon. The goal of environmental storytelling is to protect these special places, not damage them for a shot.
Another hidden environmental impact of video comes after filming, during editing and distribution.

Massive video files require storage and processing across data centers that consume enormous energy. As global video streaming grows, the digital infrastructure supporting it grows as well. Creators can reduce their digital footprint by compressing video files, trimming unused footage and exporting videos at the appropriate resolution for the platform they are using. Not every clip needs to be uploaded in ultra-high resolution.
Beyond the technical side of filming and editing lies the deeper question: what kind of stories should we tell?

The most effective sustainability videos focus on solutions rather than despair. Audiences are more likely to engage with stories that show innovation, creativity and possibility. Instead of only documenting pollution, animal abuse, or environmental collapse, creators can highlight projects restoring wetlands, entrepreneurs building circular economy businesses, or architects designing buildings that stay cool in desert climates without air conditioning.

Even small stories matter. A beekeeper protecting pollinators, a school teaching kids about compost, or a startup turning food waste into fertilizer can inspire others to act. Yes, the internet rewards sensational content, but sustainable storytelling rewards thoughtful content and it creates good vibes that are often noticed.. Videos that educate people about water conservation, renewable energy or biodiversity often travel further than expected because viewers recognize their value.

Creators who want to influence people for good should also think carefully about tone. Environmental storytelling does not need to lecture or shame audiences. It can invite curiosity instead. A well-filmed two-minute video explaining how mangrove forests protect coastlines or how desert architecture cools buildings naturally can spark deeper conversations. Consider that your audience is just as smart as you, maybe even smarter.
Ultimately sustainable video production is about intention.

Before posting, creators can ask themselves a few simple questions. Does this video help people understand the world better? Does it respect the people and places being filmed? Could sharing it put someone at risk?

When the answers are thoughtful, video becomes more than content. It becomes a tool for education, environmental awareness and positive influence and this is the kind of storytelling the internet needs much more of.

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Consulting giants EY, BCG, KPMG and Deloitte relied on the offsets, raising concerns about how corporate climate claims are being verified.

All the more reason to hire an in-house sustainability agent who understands carbon credits and sustainability. An investigation published today in the Wall Street Journal reveals that more than 140 corporations were allowed to claim carbon offsets credits from one of the world’s largest projects hosted by Verra in Brazil, despite the fact that the project was under investigation for claims regarding its legitimacy.

Related: Carbon capture technologies, markets and trends

Corporations such as BlackRock, Mastercard, and Phillip Morris International were allowed to retire and count these credits towards their emissions-reducing activities while the project was suspended. Evidence suggests that the project may have been illegitimate from its establishment, due to claims that it was located on public lands where it did not have a legal right to operate.

Additional research by Corporate Accountability released today reveals that over 70% of all carbon credits recently retired in Brazil are “problematic” and cannot be counted on to deliver their promised emissions reductions. If you are filing shareholder reports for ESG activities which include Brazil, dig deeper.

The researchers examined the top 50 carbon offset projects in Brazil between January 2024 and June 2025 — which are also among the largest projects globally — and found that millions of these problematic offsets were retired by multinational corporations and counted towards their emissions reductions despite not being likely to deliver.

“Carbon offsets have failed to lead to a decrease in global greenhouse gas emissions,” said Rachel Rose Jackson, Director of Climate Research and Policy at Corporate Accountability.

“Meanwhile, the claims of harm to communities and ecosystems caused by these projects continue to pile up. Yet again, the evidence suggests that those promoting and profiting off these projects cannot be counted on to help protect the planet. With life at stake, who is liable for the continued failures of these projects and the carbon market more broadly? And how many more times do we need to see evidence of their failure before we reorient towards more meaningful and proven solutions that reduce emissions and keep fossil fuels in the ground?”

The research in the new report from Corporate Accountability shows that 32 of the top 50 carbon offsets projects in Brazil are unlikely to reduce emissions. These projects retired 15.7 million carbon offsets credits between January 2024 and June 2025. This means that a substantial portion of the offsets from these projects that corporations were counting towards their emissions reductions were likely doing little to nothing to reduce emissions.

All of this while communities around the world face worsening floods, droughts, and extreme weather — as well as systemic violence fueled and enabled by some of the world’s largest corporate polluters in places like Palestine, Sudan, Venezuela, Iran and elsewhere.

Verra, the world’s largest carbon credit certifier, hosts 23 of the 32 problematic projects in Brazil, which accounts for 12.8 million carbon offsets credits retired between January 2024 and June 2025. Despite promises of reform amidst repeated integrity concerns, Verra appears to continue to host projects that are not proven to deliver real and lasting emissions reductions, says Corporate Accountability.

The Clean Development Mechanism hosts the remaining nine problematic projects, accounting for 2.9 million offsets retired during this period. The Clean Development Mechanism has a history of hosting projects that lack real emissions reductions and has been estimated to actually increase global emissions by 6.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide through approval of empty offsets, according to Corporate Accountability.

Corporate Accountability’s research also revealed that many major international corporations across sectors have retired offsets from these problematic Brazil-based projects. Petrobras retired nearly 200,000 credits from these problematic projects during the research period. Shell retired approximately 66,500 credits, and Equinor nearly 21,000. BlackRock retired 137,000 problematic credits from these projects.

Consulting firms also made significant use of these questionable offsets. EY retired nearly 179,000 credits from problematic Brazil projects. BCG retired around 90,000 credits. KPMG and Deloitte each retired around 5,500 credits. Other corporations using these problematic offsets include Barilla, Philip Morris, Uber, SWIFT, Mastercard, S&P Global, Engie, Yamaha Motor, and Dell.

The voluntary carbon market is predicted to grow significantly in coming years. Climate advocates, academics, communities, and experts are calling for immediate action to reverse the harms and failures of the carbon market, and to course-correct to real solutions that will put us on a proven pathway to Real Zero emissions.

Carlos Augusto Pantoja Ramos, a forestry engineer and PhD student at the Amazonian Institute of Family Agriculture at the Federal University of Pará in Brazil, has worked extensively with communities impacted by carbon offsets projects. He explained that it is not the communities near projects like Pacajaí that have benefitted from these projects.

“The attempt to capture public and common goods, such as land, by projects such as Pacajaí can intensify the concentration of income in the hands of a few corporations and institutional investors, deepening the severe social inequality in regions like the Amazon. This reveals disproportionate gain relationships between the parties involved, many of whom lack the structure and/or technical knowledge to assert their rights.”

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When my kids were around seven, dry, itchy, eczema patches appeared behind their knees. A Chinese skin doctor told me eczema is “asthma of the skin.” It sounded strange at the time — neither child had breathing problems — but the idea stayed with me. Skin, like lungs, is an interface with the environment. What we breathe, what settles in our homes, the air pollution outside, even microplastics, all of it may shape how a child’s immune system learns to respond.

Now a new study from researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Weill Cornell Medicine, and collaborating institutions offers a biological explanation for why eczema so often begins in childhood. Published February 25 in Nature, considered the best science journal, on the planet, the research identifies a brief early-life window when the skin’s immune system is wired to overreact to allergens.

Eczema affects nearly one in four children and frequently appears in infancy. It can also precede asthma and food allergies, a progression sometimes called the “atopic march.” Until now, scientists have struggled to explain why allergic skin disease is so tightly linked to early childhood.

The team focused on dendritic cells, the immune sentinels in the skin that detect environmental triggers. In young mice, these cells behaved differently than in adults. They didn’t overreact to everything. But when exposed to common allergens such as dust mites and mold, infant mice developed strong skin inflammation, while adult mice did not.

The difference appears to lie in timing and immune programming.

“We found that allergy risk is shaped very early in life, when the skin’s immune system is biologically programmed to overreact to allergens, with important consequences for understanding how immune-mediated diseases emerge and should be treated,” said senior author Shruti Naik, PhD.

In early life, dendritic cells were unusually active and quick to trigger allergic inflammation. When researchers blocked this pathway, the young mice did not develop skin allergies. The team also discovered that infant mice lack normal levels of stress hormones that later help keep immune reactions in check, effectively removing a natural brake on inflammation.

Importantly, signs of the same immune activity were found in skin samples from children with early-onset eczema, but not in adults. That suggests this early-life immune window may also operate in humans.

“This work was only possible through a true clinic-to-lab collaboration—where insights from pediatric patients shaped the questions we asked in the lab,” said co-author Emma Guttman-Yassky, MD, PhD.

The findings reinforce something environmental health researchers have long argued: early life is not simply a smaller version of adulthood. It is a distinct biological phase with its own rules and vulnerabilities.

“Children are not simply small adults when it comes to immunity,” said Dr. Naik. “Their immune system follows a unique set of rules, and recognizing that difference is essential for understanding—and ultimately preventing—allergic, immune-driven diseases that begin in childhood.”

According to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, “The skin is the largest organ in the body and plays many essential roles, including maintaining a protective barrier, providing immunity, and communicating with the outside world.” 

To manage eczema the clinic suggests managing triggers like dry skin, heat, and allergens, alongside using thick, fragrance-free moisturizers, soap substitutes, and prescribed steroids to control symptoms. I did notice that my kids’ skin problems started when we were living in the Middle East when the air was polluted and the temperatures hot and dry.

Related: Air pollution causes asthma in Cairo

For Green Prophet readers, the takeaway is clear. The first years of life may represent a critical window when environmental exposures: dust, mold, indoor allergens, pollutants, microplastics, all shape immune trajectories in lasting ways. If scientists can find safe ways to calm this early-life immune pathway, it may be possible to prevent allergic disease before it spreads from the skin to the lungs or gut.

The study is titled “Peripheral immune-inducer (pii)-DCs drive early life allergic inflammation.”

The post Why does eczema so often begin in childhood and how can we prevent it? appeared first on Green Prophet.

There is one tree that unites all monotheistic faiths, and it’s the sidr tree. Judaism, Islam and Christianity all have mystical connections to the tree. And besides the real-world honey that it provides (see our article on Yemeni sidr honey) Iraqi scientists say that the sidr tree, beloved by nations, can stop desertification. In a new article published by Faiza Khadim Dawood Al-Rumaydh, at the University of Thi Qar, Iraq, Sidr Trees Between Windbreaks and Production, he says the sidr (Ziziphus spina-christi) is a great contender for undoing the deserts. (We have a guide here which shows the sidr tree’s natural medicine)

“Because of their remarkable resistance to drought, salinity, and harsh conditions, sidr trees have a long history in the Arab world and around the world,” Al-Rumaydh writes.

That sentence alone explains why the sidr tree keeps showing up in conversations about desertification control. Long before sustainability plans and carbon accounting, this tree learned how to live with heat, wind, and water scarcity, and how to protect the land around it while doing so.

A complete ecosystem that provides sustainable protection for the soil

Al-Rumaydh describes the Sidr less as a single organism and more as a working ecological unit. Its deep roots reach down toward groundwater, while lateral roots spread wide to catch surface moisture. Its dense canopy slows wind instead of blocking it abruptly, reducing erosion.

In dry regions where wind strips topsoil and salinity creeps upward, this matters. Sidr trees, planted in rows or allowed to mature naturally, function as biological windbreaks—quiet infrastructure that doesn’t require electricity, sensors, or software updates.

Al-Rumaydh calls the Sidr “a complete ecosystem that provides sustainable protection for the soil.”

That phrase complete ecosystem reframes the tree from crop to collaborator. The Sidr doesn’t just survive harsh conditions; it reshapes them, creating shade, stabilizing soil, and allowing other life to persist nearby.

The Sidr’s value isn’t limited to ecology. Al-Rumaydh documents its economic importance across arid and semi-arid regions, especially in Iraq. The tree produces edible fruits rich in sugars and vitamin C, leaves that double as livestock fodder during drought, durable wood, and, perhaps most famously, honey. In English, fruits from the tree are called jujubes, and you can find them in Middle East, MENA and Levantine markets.

“Sidr honey is a complete bioactive complex rather than just a natural sweetener,” Al-Rumaydh notes, explaining why it commands high prices and international demand.

That honey economy matters. In rural areas where employment options are shrinking, Sidr trees support beekeeping, small-scale agriculture, and local markets. They reward long thinking. A Sidr tree can remain productive for decades, even as surrounding conditions deteriorate.

Al-Rumaydh’s paper stays firmly in the scientific lane, but it brushes up against something harder to quantify: continuity. Sidr trees have been present across Iraq and the wider region for generations.

That familiarity is part of why Sidr keeps resurfacing in modern sustainability discussions. When communities talk about restoring land, they often gravitate toward species that already belong there, not imported solutions, but remembered ones. Like the millions of mangrove trees restoring habitat in Saudi Arabia. It is also known as black magic medicine in Quranic literature, so watch out!

Could sidr trees become part of shared restoration efforts across the region? Not as symbolic gestures, but as practical acts—windbreaks planted along vulnerable farmland, buffer zones around settlements, living barriers against soil loss. Could all the nations of the world band together and make this happen?

Al-Rumaydh is careful to note that Sidr cultivation requires planning, spacing, early irrigation, and respect for local conditions. This isn’t a miracle tree but it’s a resilient one.

For those insisting on sustainable peace, the science article and applications can be found here.

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The extreme weather threatening the US and parts of Europe has already downed electricity for thousands of people and made it hard to access supplies. Be smart; be prepared. Build a family emergency kit to get you and your household through at least 72 hours without normal services, as comfortably and safely as possible.

Make a list of things each family member regularly uses and can’t do without. For instance, a baby will need diapers, many changes of clothes, moist towelettes and specific food. Anyone depending on medications should have seven days’ supply stored away. Feminine hygiene products, entertainment items, pet supplies – each person or pet has unique needs.

Discuss it with your family. They’ll remind you of things you may not have thought of. Make sure you have these things, then store them in an accessible place.

If you can, make up an individual box or package for each person, and put it where they can easily find it.

Now let’s look at an all-purpose list of indispensable supplies. Below is the Red Cross list, with our comments in parenthesis:

• Water: one gallon per person, per day: 3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home. (We bought water purification tablets and used them to store tap water in tightly closed buckets. But plain non-perfumed bleach will also serve to sanitize water. Find instructions here.
• Food: non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items: 3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home. (Store foods that your family likes. And a manual can opener)
• Flashlight (or two)
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio
• Extra batteries for flashlight and radio
• First aid kit (Things to have in the first-aid kit )
• Medications (7-day supply) and medical items
• Multi-purpose tool
• Sanitation and personal hygiene items (toilet paper, feminine hygiene products. Baby wipes can be used in a pinch for personal hygiene when no running water available. Also, shops that sell adult diapers often sell full-body moist towels; worth having for hygiene and comfort.)
• Copies of personal documents: medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies (plus marriage/divorce documents, bank account information). Put these documents in sealed, waterproof bags and keep them in a getaway suitcase in case of evacuation. Here is FEMA’s guide to safeguarding critical documents and valuables.
• Cell phone with chargers (and a portable power bank)
• Family and emergency contact information (put these names and numbers on everyone’s phones. Plus keep a paper copy taped to the refrigerator.)
• Extra cash
• Emergency blankets or sleeping bags
• Map(s) of the area

Depending on the types of disasters that are common where you live, also consider adding these things to your kit:

• Whistle (to call for help)
• N95 or surgical masks
• Matches
• Rain gear
• Towels
  Work gloves
• Tools/supplies for securing your home
• Extra clothing, hat and sturdy shoes
• Plastic sheeting
• Duct tape
• Scissors
• Household liquid bleach
• Entertainment (and comfort) items
• Two-way radios
• Extra set of car keys and house keys (give a set to a trusted neighbor or friend)

We add:

• Moist antiseptic towels to sanitize areas.
• A portable solar-powered or hand-crank lantern, to avoid tripping in the dark.
• Several long-burning candles for comforting light; assuming that it’s safe to have fire burning.
• Two or three cigarette lighters. A cigarette lighter supplies fire many more times than a box of matches.

If the suppy list seems too long to deal with, the Red Cross sells emergency kits of all sizes on their site. But we recommend building your own kit that suits your particular needs.

Other notes:

Wash and dry all the laundry in the hamper, and don’t let more accumulate. If the power goes down or water stops running in the pipes, you’ll at least have clean changes of clothes. This is important not only for hygiene but for mental health: having to live in dirty clothes makes stress worse.

If it seems likely that running water might stop, improvise a toilet made from a tall, sturdy metal bucket, strong plastic bags to line it, and a tight lid. You can also order a portable toilet online.

If you wonder where to store the emergency supplies, stash the boxes or suitcases in unused spaces. Under a table. Under beds; under the sofa. On top of closets, or under a sink. In the space under the stairs. Out on the patio; in the garage – always assuming it’s safe to go outside. Put decorative items away and use the space for emergency storage. It might feel crowded, but you’ll restore order after the emergency.

The important thing is to stay safe and be prepared.

The post How does one start prepping? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Across the Middle East and North Africa, large investments are being made in green hydrogen, renewable energy, water infrastructure and sustainability. Most of these efforts are discussed in the context of climate change, decarbonization and economic diversification. That framing is important, but it may not capture their full value.

If these systems are designed well, they can do more than produce clean energy or reduce emissions. They can help create healthier societies and greater long-term stability.

Today, health is usually treated as a medical issue. We think of hospitals, drugs and treatments. From a systems and economic perspective, this approach is becoming increasingly expensive and limited. Health does not begin in hospitals. It begins much earlier, in the conditions people live in every day.

Clean water, healthy soil, reliable energy, nutritious food and safe environments shape human health long before anyone sees a doctor. When these foundations are weak, chronic illness increases, healthcare costs rise and societies become more fragile. Medical systems then try to manage the consequences, often treating symptoms rather than underlying causes.

This challenge exists everywhere, but it is especially visible in regions facing water scarcity, climate stress, rapid urban growth and demographic change, including the Levant, the Gulf states and the wider MENA region.

From a health-economics perspective, many modern healthcare systems function as repair systems. They step in late, once disease has already developed, and continue treatment over long periods of time. 

As a result, healthcare spending grows faster than the economy, chronic disease consumes a growing share of public budgets, and long-term affordability becomes a serious concern.

For many countries, copying high-cost Western healthcare models is neither realistic nor necessary. The more important question is how societies can reduce the need for medical intervention in the first place.

This is where green energy, water and food systems become relevant in a different way. When renewable energy and green hydrogen are developed together with clean water supply, sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems, they form the real infrastructure of prevention. Clean energy supports water security. Clean water supports fertile soil and healthy food. Good food supports stable human health.

Seen this way, health is not something that constantly needs to be repaired. It emerges naturally when systems are designed properly.

This way of thinking is not new in the Middle East. The Levant and surrounding regions were once centers of advanced medical and scientific knowledge. Thinkers such as Hippocrates, and later scholars including Ibn Sina, ar-Razi and al-Kindi, understood health as a balance between the human body, the environment and daily life. Their focus was on water quality, nutrition, lifestyle and the relationship between people and their surroundings.

In modern terms, this was forward-looking knowledge. Not mystical, but practical. It recognized that the way systems are designed determines long-term outcomes.

What is new today is our ability to explain this older systems wisdom using modern science, including biochemistry, electrochemistry and economics, and to apply it to today’s policy and investment decisions.

If green hydrogen and renewable energy projects are seen only as climate measures, their potential remains limited. When they are connected to water, food and health systems, they become foundations of societal resilience. This has clear economic benefits: lower healthcare costs over time, fewer chronic diseases, better returns on sustainability investments and greater social stability.

The next phase of the energy transition is therefore not only about reducing emissions. It is about creating the conditions in which healthy societies can emerge.

Medical care will always be important, but it cannot carry the system alone. Health grows upstream, in water, energy, food and living conditions. When these systems work, health follows naturally, at lower cost and with greater stability.

This idea is old. But in a time of rising costs and increasing pressure on societies, it may be more relevant than ever.

::Bonn Climate Project

___

Heinz J. Sturm is a system architect and analyst working at the intersection of energy, water, health, and societal resilience. He is the initiator of the Bonn Climate Project, where he develops integrated system frameworks linking climate action with public health and long-term stability. Sturm is also the developer of Ars Medica Nova, a conceptual platform exploring new models of preventive health that draw on systems thinking, biology, and infrastructure design. His work focuses on translating complex system architectures into practical narratives for policymakers, researchers, and civil society.

The post From Green Energy to Healthy Societies: Why old systems thinking is becoming relevant again appeared first on Green Prophet.

We used to think climate work lived in laboratories, policy rooms, and protest signs. But these days it’s living comfortably inside Jewish thought. The Jewish Climate Trust is quietly proving that climate action doesn’t sit outside Judaism — it grows from it. Jewish Climate Trust (JCT) isn’t a think tank that lives only in theory, and it isn’t a charity that writes checks without strategy. It is a values-driven investment in how Jewish life — and Jewish responsibility — shows up in a world already shaped by climate change.

The starting point is simple and uncomfortable: the climate crisis is real, measurable, and accelerating. Denial is not a Jewish position. Despair isn’t either. Judaism teaches obligation without guaranteed success. You are not required to finish the work — but you are not free to abandon it. JCT lives inside that idea: it insists on action without pretending to own the ending.

The focus of the JCT is twofold: putting less carbon into the atmosphere and preparing communities for what is already unfolding.

But there is a third layer that feels distinctly Jewish: co-benefits. Every climate action should strengthen human relationships — between Jews and Jews, Israel and the diaspora, and across borders between people. We see that work in action in Israel’s Arava Center, a cross-border environment research study center that funds desert research, water, cleantech, advancing partners for peace along the way. Climate work, according to the JCT is not only environmental; it is social, political, spiritual, and it’s the moral thing to do.

In North America, JCT has made the largest climate grant ever given in the Jewish world, funding Adamah to accelerate Jewish climate leadership. This includes expanding the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, building regional hubs, and integrating climate into young leadership training. They also helped launch a Green Business Network, which is growing faster than anticipated.

Green Prophet founded a chapter of Green Drinks in Israel in 2009. Adamah is continuing the spirit with their next meet-up in Boston in February.

The goal is cultural change — not a single project, but a shift in how Jewish institutions understand responsibility.

In Israel, JCT is funding major research on climate preparedness and security. Climate awareness in Israel is not only about nature — it is about stability, health, migration, food systems, and national resilience. The JCT is pushing Israel to think ahead rather than react too late.

Regionally, JCT is supporting the Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy at the Arava Institute — one of the most important cross-border environmental cooperation platforms in the Middle East. When USAID funding was lost, years of trust-building between Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, and international partners were suddenly at risk. JCT stepped in with a significant multi-year commitment, joined by private stakeholders, to keep this fragile but vital ecosystem alive.

Jewish Climate Trust has quickly attracted the attention and support of some of the most influential voices in Jewish philanthropy, drawing backing from prominent family foundations and business leaders connected to the Bronfman and Schusterman philanthropic networks, alongside climate-focused investors and community builders aligned with founding leader Nigel Savage. Together, these donors have committed many millions of dollars to build a serious, long-term climate platform for the Jewish world — not as a symbolic gesture, but as a strategic intervention in one of the defining challenges of this generation.

::Jewish Climate Trust

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The United States has announced it is withdrawing from 66 international organizations, many of them linked directly or indirectly to the United Nations system. The decision, announced by President Donald Trump and reinforced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reflects a renewed “America First” approach to foreign policy and multilateral engagement. The full list of cut funding is here. Given the pro-terror stance for organizations funded by the UN Green Prophet sympathizes with the US and understand that what appear as cleantech or environmental projects is money sent to support countries that are anti-environment, such as Qatar. Read our article on the Union for the Mediterranean.

“Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations,” Rubio said. “These withdrawals keep a key promise President Trump made to Americans — we will stop subsidizing globalist bureaucrats who act against our interests. The Trump Administration will always put America and Americans first.” The administration added that its review of additional international organizations remains ongoing.

Although the full list has not yet been released, the move has immediate relevance for sustainability, climate policy, science, and culture, where the US has historically been one of the largest financial contributors. Several UN bodies central to environmental governance are widely expected to be affected, either through full withdrawal, funding cuts, or reduced engagement.

Among the most consequential is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which oversees global climate negotiations including the annual COP summits. This year the COP31 event will be held in Antalya, Turkey. The US has already exited the Paris Agreement once under Trump and rejoined under President Biden; this announcement raises fresh uncertainty about America’s long-term role in global climate coordination.

The United Nations Environment Programme is another body closely tied to sustainability. UNEP coordinates international research, policy guidance, and monitoring on biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate adaptation. Critics in Washington argue that UNEP promotes regulatory frameworks that conflict with US economic and energy interests, while supporters say it provides essential scientific coordination that no single country can replicate alone.

Cultural and scientific organizations are also in focus. The UN’s UNESCO, which works on education, heritage protection, and science cooperation, has long been criticized by US conservatives for what they see as politicization and perceived institutional bias, particularly in resolutions related to Israel and the Middle East.

Sustainability advocates note that UNESCO’s work on water resources, ocean science, and heritage conservation often intersects directly with environmental protection. This is true, but the UN funds organizations that seem harmless, but which take a very clear political point of view that contradicts American policies and allies.

Other bodies potentially affected include the Food and Agriculture Organization, which addresses food security and sustainable farming, and the World Health Organization, whose work increasingly links environmental degradation, pollution, and climate change to public health outcomes.

Related: The UN and EU fund anti-west biases in Spain

The administration and its supporters argue that many UN and EU-aligned institutions have developed ideological and structural biases that reflect European policy preferences more than American priorities. In the EU and UN funded Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the organization operates like a pan-Arab support network instead of servicing actual countries in the Mediterranean. These critiques often point to heavy emphasis on precautionary regulation, climate mandates, and social frameworks that are seen as misaligned with US energy production, industrial competitiveness, and national sovereignty.

On the other hand, critics warn that disengagement from UN sustainability institutions risks reducing US influence over global standards that will shape markets, trade, and technology regardless of American participation.

For sustainability advocates, the moment highlights a deeper tension: whether environmental governance is best pursued through global institutions or through national and regional strategies. I personally believe that more power should be put into the hands of local organizations. The bigger and more bloated EU and UN organizations become (with non-elected leaders), the more political biases and racism creep into global policies and perception. The world needs a reset and to restart well intentioned cooperation projects from start. Because right now the UN and EU projects look like software built on code from the 80s, rickety, patched, slow to adapt, and prone to crashing under the weight of outdated assumptions.

Karin Kloosterman – Green Prophet

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