“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
Investors debate between scaling up in Riyadh or Dubai, but the UAE will be the favored Middle East investment hub along with Tel Aviv insofar that conditions are made for great for employees, entrepreneurs and startups. A good business starts from the ground-up and co-working spaces give community and credibility to those who’ve outgrown the bomb shelter or second bedroom.
Emirates NBD, a banking group in the Middle East has partnered with Dubai’s own Letswork, a leading co-working workspace provider in the region, to offer bank employees access to over 4,000 coworking desks, meeting rooms and offices across the UAE and beyond. In Canada, leading banks are telling disgruntled staff working from home since COVID, that they need to come back to the office. What if there could be a middle way to large financial hubs in city centers? Could bank employees be shuttled around to co-work offices around the country?
According to the terms of the partnership, select Emirates NBD employees will join a 12-month pilot program to experience on-demand workspaces through Letswork’s intuitive platform, with the potential for wider rollout across the bank. The collaboration follows Letswork’s participation in Emirates NBD’s National Digital Talent Incubator Program, where early conversations between the bank and startup laid the foundation for this engagement and future ones.
The UAE is investing in AI and new businesses, including banks, will need places to work.
By leveraging Letswork’s secure and flexible platform, employees can book meeting rooms, coworking spaces and private offices instantly across over 100 hubs in Dubai, and more than 25 hubs in Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates, and additional international locations. according to a news release.
Aligning with the bank’s focus on excellence and customer service, the collaboration allows for greater flexibility and convenience when travelling for meetings in Abu Dhabi, with easy access to high-quality working and meeting spaces. It offers a more streamlined and efficient way to book external workshops and meeting spaces across the UAE through Letswork’s intuitive platform.
Letswork’s network of coworking hubs gives employees based in the outskirts of Dubai and the Northern Emirates to work closer to home thereby reducing commuting time and improving work-life balance.
Letswork was co-founded in 2019 by Omar Al Mheiri and Hamza Khan in Dubai, UAE. They identified a gap: freelancers and startups in Dubai needing flexible, affordable workplace options without the commitment of long-term leases. From one hotel partner in Dubai they expanded into a global network. It was modeled after WeWork, a global networking and office space provider. WeWork emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2024 after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the company’s restructuring plan, which eliminated approximately US$4 billion in debt.
Before co-working spaces were a business model, communities organized their own community-focused and shared office spaces. As interest grew, so did the concept as a scalable business opportunity.
Coworking spaces are a sustainable choice as a multitude of businesses can share many resources such as machines and physical office space and meeting rooms, desk staff, marketing, kitchens and security.
Emirates NBD (DFM: Emirates NBD) is a leading banking group in the Middle East region with a presence in 13 countries, serving over 9 million active customers. As of 30th September 2025, total assets were AED 1.139 trillion, (equivalent to approx. USD 310.1 billion). The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Russia and Bahrain and representative offices in China and Indonesia with a total of 797 branches and 4,526 ATMs / SDMs. Emirates NBD is the leading financial services brand in the UAE with a Brand value of USD 4.54 billion.
Emirates NBD contributes to the construction of a sustainable future as an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s main development and sustainability initiatives, including financial wellness and the inclusion of people of determination. Emirates NBD is committed to supporting the UAE’s Year of Sustainability as Principal Banking Partner of COP28 and an early supporter to the Dubai Can sustainability initiative, a city-wide initiative aimed to reduce use of single-use plastic bottled water.
The global energy transition isn’t only about solar panels, electrolyzers, or the glamorous green-hydrogen whispers in Dubai conference halls. The revolutions come from the places the public hasn’t heard about, like an industrial campus outside Salt Lake City, where a company called Torus just secured $200 million to build a different kind of battery future.
Years ago when I interviewed the late David Anthony from 21Ventures, he told me his secrets to deal finding: hang out in laboratories and find the innovation before it gets to the tech transfer office. (Tech transfer offices have already done the due diligence and you’ll find deals there too, but they are no longer secret).
This story here isn’t lithium mining in the Andes or sodium-ion chemistry in Shanghai. This is physics, spooling at thousands of revolutions per minute and it started at a company called Torus.
Torus combines flywheels — ancient devices (think pottery kick wheel) that store energy mechanically by spinning at high speed — with traditional batteries. The result is a hybrid system that can absorb and release power instantly, smoothing the chaos of electrons on a stressed electrical grid. A flywheel is like a spinning prayer wheel for the grid, storing kinetic intention, and releasing it stably when everything around it shakes.
In engineering-speak: “A flywheel comprises a rotating mass that stores kinetic energy. When charging, a torque applied in the direction of rotation accelerates the rotor, increasing its speed and stored energy,” explains Sandia National Laboratory. “When discharging, a braking torque decelerates the rotor, extracting energy while performing useful work.”
Flywheels are already powering parts of modern life. In big cities like London and Philadelphia, transit systems use flywheels to capture braking energy from trains and feed it back into the grid. In data centers at Microsoft and major telecom hubs, flywheel UPS units provide instant backup power before generators kick in.
Utilities from New York to Ontario use flywheel farms to stabilize the grid when wind and solar fluctuate. In space, satellites use flywheel “reaction wheels” to orient themselves without fuel. Even race cars like Porsche hybrids have used flywheels for rapid energy recovery and boost. This is proven tech, now scaling to the grid.
Why the world needs a stable grid?
Torus energy storage that uses a flywheel
AI and token-mining data centers are consuming city-scale power. The US grid is aging making it difficult to absorb new energy sources even when they become relevant. Extreme heat and cold events are becoming the new normal. And these factors influence whether or not the heating will go in Texas or Canada in the winter.
Torus’ new financing, led by Chicago-based Magnetar Capital, will scale a Utah manufacturing facility called GigaOne and push capacity beyond 1 gigawatt of storage within three years. Letters of intent are already on the table from PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric, both utilities managing real-world wildfire risk, winter storms, and transformer-meltdown summers.
Michael Cooper, our trusted in-house investment researcher from 36North says that Warren Buffet is the model for all investment students of the world to follow. So this latest round and interest in Torus by PacifiCorp caught his attention.
“As an investor, I am most excited by the potentially lower risk environment whereby industry is combining disciplines and technologies from physics to chemistry to build products and solutions. This stage is more rewarding than exploring theoretical physics or pure chemistry,” he says.
Though still private, Torus has already attracted major utility interest, including letters of intent from PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric—early signals that its technology is transitioning from promising pilot to grid-relevant infrastructure. Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett’s conglomerate) via its subsidiary Berkshire Hathaway Energy (formerly MidAmerican Energy Holdings) owns PacifiCorp.
In a blog post on September 9, Torus CEO and co-founder Nate Walkingshaw described the company’s “modular power plant” technology in somewhat flowing terms, though the basic point is the key point. Flywheels are more responsive than conventional batteries, and batteries support the duration factor.
“The magical combination of flywheels, batteries, chipsets and cyber security appliances allows us to respond in milliseconds, and stay online with 99.9% uptime,” Walkingshaw said. “This year we have been deployed by our utility partners nearly every day to assist them with frequency and voltage support plus assisting our customers with peak shaving, emergency back-up and power quality concerns,” he added.
Torus
Lithium batteries are miracles we use every day and they are in our phones, laptops, Teslas. But lithium alone isn’t enough to stabilize a renewable grid. Batteries degrade. But flywheels don’t degrade the same way. They don’t catch fire. They don’t care if it’s −20°C or +50°C. They can discharge and recharge millions of times.
This isn’t a moonshot investment but one that Warren Buffett could get behind. Torus already runs a 400-MW manufacturing facility and it has purchase orders in the pipeline and has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Rocky Mountain Power (a division of PacifiCorp) to deploy up to 70 MW of its hybrid flywheel + battery storage solutions in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.
“This partnership highlights our commitment to exploring new technologies and optimizing infrastructure as we work to meet the energy demands and challenges over the next decade,” said Dick Garlish, President of Rocky Mountain Power.
How flywheels work to store free energy
The opportunity is enabled through Rocky Mountain Power’s industry leading virtual power plan, specifically the Wattsmart Battery program. The partnership will deploy Torus’s cutting-edge Nova Spin and Nova Pulse technologies across multiple sites. These innovations allow for real-time response and deliver twice the lifespan of traditional batteries.
“Working with Rocky Mountain Power at this scale demonstrates the growing recognition of demand response as a crucial tool for modern utilities,” said Walkingshaw. “As Utah attracts more data centers, manufacturing facilities, and technology companies, reliable and affordable energy becomes even more critical. Our technology improves grid resilience and efficiency while supporting Utah’s vision for energy abundance that will power the next generation of economic growth.”
The story here isn’t that flywheels will replace lithium batteries but that the energy future will be stacked, layered, and hybrid.
Gilbert Lee, Torus
Torus Inc., based in South Salt Lake City, Utah, was co-founded in 2021 by systems-engineer-turned-entrepreneur Nate Walkingshaw and energy technologist Gilbert Lee, with a vision to build a grid-storage platform that blends the physics reliability of flywheels with the flexibility of batteries.
The company has grown to roughly 70 employees as it scales its “GigaOne” manufacturing campus and deploys hybrid storage systems for utilities and data centers. Torus recently secured $200 million in growth capital from Magnetar Capital to boost production capacity beyond 1 GW within three years, following earlier funding that valued the company at approximately $535 million.
Belém’s COP30 puts forests, freshwater and oceans at center stage. How are emerging markets treating nature as infrastructure— and plugging it into finance and trade. We know that the world has reached the coral tipping point, and as you are busy saving the trees and oceans, know how activists, locals, banks and business can work together. Learn the lingo of finance mechanisms to help save the planet.
Everyone will cover the headlines from the United Nation’s climate conference, this year called COP30 and which is in Belém, Brazil. Fewer will explain the mechanics of how nature becomes cashflow, trade leverage and resilience infrastructure—especially for the Global South. That’s the gap we’re filling. Green Prophet offers a practical question: what instruments exist right now to turn living systems into value chains that stand up to droughts, floods and supply-chain shocks? And how can MENA, Africa and Latin America lead instead of only react.
Know your terminology if you want to follow the conversations in the room
Blended Finance
Econcrete restores coastal habitats with low-cost concrete that mimics a natural shoreline.
Blended finance is the engine room. Public and philanthropic “first-loss” capital de-risks deals; commercial investors come in behind. The aim is to move beyond pilot projects into pipelines that pay for restoration at scale. The World Bank’s recent review shows a surprising depth of activity in nature-based infrastructure, with millions of people already benefiting from coastal and watershed projects that reduce disaster risk while growing local economies.
Let’s take an example we can get behind: Imagine there is huge project to fix a coastline that’s getting destroyed by storms over and over again. We know that planting mangrove trees and building natural barriers to protect homes and schools works. But who pays for this, especially in developing nations like Thailand, where government money might be tight, especially on small islands.
Thailand’s, and Saudi Arabian mangrove forests can help mitigate climate change by keeping rising tides and storms at bay
The problem is that it costs a lot to plant and maintain mangrove trees and natural barriers, and even less natural ones like the ones built by Eco-Concrete in costal areas of New York. There is a lot of good reasons why protecting coastlines are good: tourism, business and stability to invest in a region pay off in the long term.
So how does blended finance work? Big investors might not build a university or a business center in an at-risk area like Indonesia because its islands are at-risk from flooding. They watch as government and charities go first to build pilot projects. These groups take the first losses and are buffered to do so. When investors see a project or pilot is working, the investors and banks can join in.
The end result is that if it’s a project on island resilience, and it’s done well with the local community, the fishermen get more fish, the houses and infrastructure don’t flood, and tourism and businesses in the area improve. Now instead of the government or local municipality working to clean up new disasters as they happen, the community and investors protect a community and its economy.
Where this is doing well: Indonesia: planting mangroves to protect coasts and create jobs, in Kenya where they are restoring forests to secure water for cities and farms and in Colombia, where they are rebuilding riversides to stop floods and boost tourism. The World Bank found millions of people already benefiting from nature-based projects like these. They’re not just experiments — but are becoming real business pipelines.
Debt for Nature Swaps
Debt-for-nature swaps are also keywords you will hear coming out of COP30 and debt-for-nature is having a moment. By refinancing sovereign debt of a nation and locking savings into conservation endowments, countries can protect mangroves, reefs and forests while improving fiscal stability.
The Bahamas’ swap—backed by private guarantees and insurers—unlocked roughly $124 million for ocean protection and mangrove recovery. Expect more hybrids like “blue bonds,” watershed bonds, and biodiversity-linked notes as COP30 pushes nature up the finance agenda.
Canada is beginning to explore similar nature-finance mechanisms. They are offering grants for businesses that support climate change initiatives. While small island nations pioneered debt-for-nature swaps, the logic applies anywhere natural assets protect economies. Take the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes Basin. This is a freshwater system worth trillions in trade, shipping, drinking water, hydropower, and fisheries — yet it faces rising storm surges, coastal erosion, surges in algae blooms, and biodiversity loss.
Imagine a Canadian “watershed bond” modelled on the Bahamas’ blue bond play: federal and provincial governments refinance aging municipal debt in water-adjacent cities like Toronto beaches, Kingston, Thunder Bay, and Windsor. Interest savings are then routed into a protected watershed fund to restore wetlands, rebuild fish nurseries, and reinforce natural floodplains that protect ports and neighborhoods.
Who backs it? Pension funds like CPP Investments, insurers hedging climate risk, and Indigenous-led stewardship trusts that secure long-term governance. Satellite and LiDAR data verify improved water quality, carbon storage, and flood protection — giving investors confidence that nature isn’t just a moral win, but a balance-sheet asset.
Nature Markets
Circle farming in Holland uses AI and nature together.
Nature markets are growing up fast — and not just carbon trading. Investors and governments are starting to put real contracts behind things like restoring habitats, protecting species, and improving fisheries. In the past, these ideas lived in Canva or PowerPoint presentations and pilot projects that didn’t go far beyond the anecdote stage. Today, they’re showing up in legal agreements, budgets, and deal pipelines.
What changed? Measurement tech and startups working in the impact space. We can now track how many fish return to a reef, how much flood damage is avoided when wetlands are restored, or how many species come back when forests regrow. When you can measure nature’s value, you can finance it. Also, investors found that impact companies can return significantly higher returns on investment.
The early winners will be projects that do more than one thing: reduce carbon, protect coasts, boost fishing incomes, create jobs, and improve water security. In short, projects and companies that score high in ESG. Instead of selling just one benefit, they’ll earn money from many revenue streams. The future natural economy isn’t supposed to be about charity — it’s revenue, resilience, and concepts like regenerative agriculture working together.
What to watch at COP30
A Brazil rainforest
Belém in Brazil may be remembered as the summit where nature moved from a side-event to system change. If you are there at the event, Look for bigger blended-finance vehicles for forests and watersheds, standardized biodiversity/ecosystem credit frameworks, clearer guidance on how trade tools like CBAM and deforestation-free rules interact with development and equity goals, and concrete deals in the Amazon and beyond that link restoration to export growth.
Media attention will swirl around politics, but the durable story is finance and how data can turn ecosystems, including jungles and seashore towns, into resilient value-chains.
A conference “for peace” in the Mediterranean, funded by the EU and which demonizes Israel in its core
The European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) in Barcelona, a so-called peace making think tank for the Mediterranean Region, is hosting the twelfth edition of its Aula Mediterrània lecture series—27 talks spanning politics, migration, and culture under the banner of “Thinking about the Mediterranean of the 21st Century.”
At first glance, it looks like a celebration of regional dialogue and academic exchange. But beneath the polished program lies a troubling current of politicized bias that calls into question the values the European Union claims to uphold: fairness, democracy, and balanced dialogue.
This year’s series devotes significant attention to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict—yet the framing of that attention is anything but balanced. One talk is titled “Palestine’s Maritime Rights vs Israel’s Bully Take Over: An Exit Path.” Another accuses the European Union of “Complicity, Silence and Double Standards.” Later in the schedule comes “The Fifteen Wars of Israel against Gaza,” a phrase that reads more like an activist slogan than a scholarly topic.
Not a single lecture explores Israel’s security concerns, democratic institutions, or peace efforts. Or how the Arab world works to combat terror. There are no Israeli speakers, no balance, and no nuance—just repetition of a single narrative that paints one country, and one people, as the villain of the Mediterranean story.
The Union for the Mediterranean, funded by the EU and the UN engages in the same flavor of dialogue when it comes to environmental issues and climate change. See the women on stage in keffiahs meant to virtue signal and intimidate Israelis and Jews. I have written to their directors, and spokesperson multiple times about exclusionary policies against Israelis and Israel data in the Mediterranean. No reply.
Union for the Mediterranean hosts climate events but turns them into a political spectacle.
That is not dialogue. It’s dogma.
When European taxpayers fund programs through institutions like IEMed, they do so under the promise of promoting mutual understanding and academic rigor.
Instead, Aula Mediterrània has become a platform for the normalization of anti-Israel bias wrapped in academic legitimacy –- and offers credit when you attend these lectures online. By platforming speakers who describe Israel’s policies in loaded, accusatory terms—without offering countervailing voices—the event risks turning the European lecture hall into an echo chamber for politicized grievance.
The EU’s own policies call for cultural initiatives that strengthen democratic debate, not replace it with monolithic thinking. How does a lecture that calls Israel a “bully” advance understanding between “both shores of the Mediterranean,” as the program claims? How can we speak of inclusion when the only Jewish and Israeli perspectives are erased from the conversation?
There is a dangerous irony in a publicly funded institution promoting exclusion under the guise of inclusion. Europe’s academic landscape is increasingly shaped by the politics of one-sided empathy—solidarity for some victims, silence for others. This is not just unfair; it is anti-democratic. True scholarship depends on the freedom to debate, to test ideas against evidence, to listen even when it is uncomfortable. By indulging in moral absolutism, Aula Mediterrània abandons the very foundations of intellectual democracy.
If the EU wishes to preserve credibility as a defender of democracy and dialogue, and the Arab world aspires to become a democracy in any shape and form, it must ensure that the institutions they fund and support reflect those principles. Supporting events that vilify one democratic state while romanticizing its enemies sends a message of hypocrisy, not harmony.
The Mediterranean deserves better—an academic space where truth, complexity, and compassion coexist. Until Aula Mediterrània embraces genuine pluralism, European taxpayers should ask a simple question: why are they paying for propaganda?
For an easy, luscious appetizer, wrap a semi-firm white cheese like Brie or feta in grapevine leaves and bake or grill it. It’s a delicious way to make the most of a few grapevine leaves left in the jar after you made mushrooms cooked in grapevine leaves or grilled fish..
The cheese becomes subtly flavored with an earthy, tangy note from the leaves and olive oil. Then there’s the wow factor when you unwrap the cheese and reveal the soft, spicy feta, or release the gooey, luscious Brie from the toasty grape leaves.
As always when cooking brined grapevine leaves, first rinse, then drain them, and pat dry. Snip off any stiff stem pieces.
First, the fluffy grilled feta…
Feta Grilled In Grapevine Leaves
Seasoned feta cheese grilled in vine leaves
length kitchen twine
scissors
8 large brined grape leaves (rinsed of salt and drained)
A block of feta of approximately 7-oz (200 grams)
Olive oil
Sprinklings of: dried oregano or za’atar leaves; sumac; ground pepper
2 tsp grated lemon peel
Put down a layer of grape leaves large enough to wrap the block of feta, depending on their size. Place the cheese on the center of the layer.
Dribble olive oil over the cheese.
Season with sprinklings of the dried herbs and pepper and grated lemon peel.
Wrap the cheese in the leaves as you would wrap a package. If needed to contain the cheese, place a leave over the top and fold in the sides.
Tie kitchen twine around the package. Brush with olive oil.
Grill the cheese package 3 minutes on each side.
Snip open the twine. Leave the cheese on the leaves to stay warm.
Serve immediately.
Appetizer
Mediterranean
cheese, Easy, edible leaves
And here’s your melty, rich baked Brie…
Brie Baked In Grapevine Leaves
Rich and gooey baked Brie
4-6 large brined grape leaves
1 Brie cheese of about 7 oz. – 200 grams (at room temperature.)
1 tblsp. olive oil
Garnishes of choice
Pre-heat the oven to 375°F – 190°C .
Rinse and dry the grapevine leaves. Cut away any stems.
Arrange the leaves to overlap in a circle.
Rub the olive oil into the Brie on all sides.
Place the cheese on top of grape leaves. Wrap it completely in the leaves.
Place the wrapped cheese on a baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes.
The Brei will have melted: be prepared with a spatula to lift it off the baking sheet and onto your serving dish.
Spread the cheese on good crackers or crostini for a lovely start to a meal for four, or an intimate dinner for two.
To accompany the salty feta, put a selection of raw sliced vegetables on the table. Slice bell peppers, carrots, celery, even raw button mushrooms if they’re very fresh and perfectly white. If you want a mildly sweet flavor contrast, firm apples and pears also complement grilled feta.
Mild baked Brie pairs well with seasonal fresh fruit like grapes, figs, apricots, apples, or pears. No fresh fruit on hand? All sorts of dried fruit work too; in fact some favor a dried fruit garnish for the concentrated sweetness.
Don’t stop at feta or Brie. Goat cheese and mozzarella are also very good baked in vine leaves. Season with herbs as in the feta recipe above, or not, as you choose, but always dribble olive oil generously over the cheese before you wrap it in the leaves, and brush a little more over the wrapped package.
Photo of feta cheese on vine leaves via BBC Food.
Photo of Brie wrapped in vine leaves by Alexandra Tran via Unsplash.
Black cats banned for adoption so they won’t be used in witchcraft or as Halloween props
In early October, the Spanish town of Terrassa, north of Barcelona, made headlines for taking an unusual step to protect its feline population. From October 1 to November 10, all adoptions and fostering of cats — particularly black ones — have been suspended. The local animal welfare service said the measure was taken “to prevent possible risk … derived from superstitions, rituals, or irresponsible uses” during the Halloween period.
The announcement, made on October 6, echoes a growing concern among animal-welfare groups in Europe and North America: that black cats face abuse, abandonment, or death around Halloween. The folklore that links them to witches and bad luck still casts a long, dangerous shadow.
According to Noel Duque, Terrassa’s councillor for animal welfare, adoption requests for black cats tend to spike each October. Some people, he told the local Diari de Terrassa, want them “for ritual purposes” or “as decoration because it’s cool.”
On his own Facebook page, Duque sits next to a ginger cat — a small sign of solidarity with the animals he’s sworn to protect.
In previous years, Spanish shelters reported disturbing incidents: cats adopted as “Halloween mascots” and later abandoned, and others used in occult ceremonies. While many of these claims are difficult to verify, the risk is real enough for Terrassa to take precautionary action. “We cannot look the other way when faced with a grim topic,” Duque said.
The stereotype of the black cat as an omen of death dates back to medieval Europe, when cats were believed to be witches’ familiars. Despite centuries of scientific progress, superstition still dictates their fate each October. Social-media trends have made matters worse: black cats are sometimes adopted as props for Halloween photo shoots, only to be discarded afterward.
Terrassa’s policy is not absolute. “Exceptions will be duly justified and assessed by the technical team of the centre, where there is a full safety guarantee and a reliable history of the applicant,” the municipal welfare office said. Regular adoption procedures will resume after November 10, though the city hasn’t ruled out making the seasonal ban permanent.
Terrassa is home to more than 9,800 cats, according to municipal data — a population that lives quietly among its 220,000 residents. The temporary ban forces the town, and perhaps the rest of us, to confront a deeper contradiction. How can a culture that loves animals and fills social media with cat memes still tolerate cruelty in the name of tradition or aesthetics?
Halloween began as Samhain, the Celtic festival marking the boundary between life and death — a time to honor ancestors, not harm the living. Terrassa’s decision reminds us that compassion, not superstition, should guide how we celebrate.
So when the candles flicker this Halloween and black cats cross your path, consider it not a curse but a challenge — to outgrow our ghosts and protect those still paying for them.
We talk a lot about renewable energy, electric cars, and ocean cleanup projects when we talk about sustainability. But the fight for a greener planet often starts closer to home — behind the supermarket, in the back of a hotel, or inside a city recycling depot. Waste management doesn’t usually grab headlines, yet it’s one of the most immediate ways to cut emissions, save resources, and make sustainability practical instead of theoretical. Enter the unsung hero of modern recycling: the humble trash baler.
For decades, managing waste has meant hauling it away and hoping someone else deals with it. Trucks burn fuel, bins overflow, and recyclables get contaminated long before they reach a processing plant. But that model doesn’t really work anymore. As landfills fill up and the global waste stream keeps growing, cities and businesses are realizing they need to handle more of the problem right where it starts. The trash baler is part of that shift — a simple, industrial tool helping to reshape how we think about sustainability.
Rethinking Waste From the Ground Up
The old take–make–dispose model has been under pressure for years. Urban centers from Dubai to Los Angeles are wrestling with the logistics of waste that just won’t stop coming. Every delivery, every product, every plastic wrapper adds to a growing mountain of materials that, ironically, could have been reused if only they were managed better.
That’s where trash baler come in. By compacting waste — especially recyclable materials like cardboard, plastic, and paper — balers make it possible to keep materials clean and organized at the source. Instead of sending dozens of half-empty bins to a landfill, businesses can store compressed bales for recycling, reducing both transport costs and carbon emissions. It’s a simple fix, but it’s quietly powerful.
Small Machines, Big Change
A trash baler doesn’t look revolutionary. It’s a vertical machine that presses waste into neat, stackable cubes. But the ripple effects are huge. Less volume means fewer trucks, less fuel burned, and less air pollution. For small businesses or apartment complexes, that’s a direct line between everyday operations and measurable sustainability progress.
Companies like Bramidan USA have refined this technology to make it even more efficient and easy to use. Their vertical balers are designed for shops, restaurants, and warehouses that want to handle recycling in-house. The result is cleaner waste streams, less mess, and a lot less waste ending up where it shouldn’t.
It’s worth noting that many businesses adopt these machines not because they have to, but because they want to. They’re tired of paying for overflowing dumpsters and unreliable waste pickups. When people see that sustainability can save them time and money, it stops being a buzzword and starts being common sense.
Why Local Waste Management Matters
If you’ve ever watched a recycling truck weaving through city streets, you’ve seen the problem firsthand. Most of what we call “recycling” still depends on long-distance transportation and centralized sorting facilities. Those systems are energy-intensive and prone to contamination — the dreaded mix of wet food, plastic wrap, and paper that renders recyclables useless.
When businesses use balers, they can separate and compress materials on-site. That means cleaner recyclables and fewer rejected loads. The material that leaves the premises is ready for reprocessing, not another round of sorting. Multiply that across thousands of small operations, and suddenly local waste management becomes a genuine climate solution.
It’s not glamorous work, but it’s exactly what sustainability needs more of: everyday, scalable efficiency. You don’t have to overhaul an entire supply chain or build a new power grid to make a difference. Sometimes you just need to manage your trash better.
From Waste to Resource
In the circular economy, waste doesn’t really exist — it’s just material waiting for its next use. Compacted bales of cardboard and plastic have value. They’re easier to sell, ship, and recycle. Instead of paying to throw waste away, businesses can often make money by selling these materials back into the recycling market.
That small economic incentive turns sustainability from a burden into a business case. When you can quantify the savings — fewer pickups, lower disposal fees, extra revenue — it changes how organizations think about environmental responsibility. Sustainability stops being a side project and becomes part of daily operations.
The Human Side of Waste
There’s something almost poetic about it. The more we automate and globalize, the more sustainability comes back to something simple: caring about what we leave behind. Waste management might not feel as exciting as solar panels or carbon capture, but it’s deeply human. It’s about cleaning up after ourselves and doing it a little better every year.
That’s why machines like the trash baler are quietly revolutionary. They give power back to people and businesses to handle their own waste responsibly. They make recycling visible and tangible. And they remind us that progress isn’t always about new inventions — sometimes it’s about using old ideas more intelligently.
Making Sustainability Practical
Sustainability can sometimes sound like a lofty ideal, something reserved for big corporations or government programs. But in reality, it’s built on small, repeatable actions. Every time a store compacts its cardboard instead of throwing it away, every time a logistics center reduces its trash pickups, the planet benefits.
That’s what makes the story of the trash baler worth telling. It’s proof that practical, everyday choices can scale into real environmental progress. Machines like these are redefining what sustainability looks like — not as an abstract goal, but as something you can switch on, load up, and actually see working.
Does your rental include an eco mattress made from bamboo? Little things can add up to be meaningful for renters
Sustainability is a smart revenue strategy. Renters want green features where they live, and they’re willing to pay a premium. Some people won’t rent from an apartment building unless they have at least some green practices in place, like LED lights, low-flow plumbing, and smart thermostats.
That’s great news for landlords who are willing to add sustainability to their rental properties’ features. Practical green amenities equal higher rents, faster lease signings, and happier, long-term tenants. For landlords in major cities, it gives them an edge on the competition. For example, Green Residential – a Houston property management company – helps their clients add eco-friendly amenities to their rentals so they rent faster and to higher quality tenants.
If you’re a landlord looking for ways to go green, here are the top five features to prioritize.
Plug-and-play appliances
Swapping out old lightbulbs, washers, and refrigerators for efficient models is the cheapest way to reduce your tenants’ bills. This makes premium rent a lot easier to charge. Lighting alone tends to be around 15% of a home’s electricity use, and just by using LEDs, households save around $225 per year.
A smart thermostat by Nest
ENERGY STAR appliances use around 25% less energy, and washers use 33% less water, which makes them a marketable upgrade for tenants. Where thermostats are concerned, tenants can save a lot of money on their heating and cooling costs just by having a programmable thermostat. These appliances are low-friction upgrades with tangible cost savings that will make your property more attractive.
Heat pumps
Home heating and insulation. Sustainability is really just about pipes and pumps
Heat pumps are quickly becoming the new default for energy efficient, electric comfort. They can cut electricity use for heating by up to 75% compared to heat generated by electric resistance. They’re up to 4.5 times more efficient than ENERGY STAR gas furnaces.
Heat pumps can heat and cool a space in Toronto apartments, and they make excellent dehumidifiers in summer, and work well with ductless installs in older buildings. When prospects get to enjoy comfort and lower bills, charging premium rent is justified.
If you haven’t already switched over to all-electric heat pumps from combustion like gas, it’s worth considering before your hand is forced. States and cities are quickly passing laws that make combustion harder to maintain.
EV chargers
For tenants who own an electric vehicle, having an onsite EV charging station is a big draw. In fact, in some areas, it’s becoming an expectation rather than a convenient amenity. In California, starting in 2026, some landlords will be legally required to install EV charging stations in most new overnight parking spots.
A Tesla Powerwall can stabilize the grid and keep your home running during a blackout
It’s not easy to find a place to charge an electric vehicle, and having an onsite EV charger will sweeten the deal and get you higher rent. In fact, according to a Multifamily Executive survey 58% of renters planning to buy an EV in the next five years said they’d pay more rent for onsite charging.
EV-friendly rental listings are still pretty rare, so if you have chargers you’ll stand out in search filters and shorten the time it takes to get leases signed. As electric vehicle ownership grows in dense urban markets like Toronto apartments, EV charging has become a standout amenity that renters increasingly look for when browsing listings on Rentals.ca.
Drought-resistant landscaping
Water is easy to waste, and nothing uses more water than having to maintain a front or backyard full of plants. And you can’t just let them die – that would look awful. The solution is for landlords to install drought-resistant landscaping and smart irrigation controllers for plants that require regular watering.
The Treetoscope sensor collects information about water and soil nutrients to turn on irrigation systems at the right time
A smart irrigation system can reduce water usage by up to 40% and avoid the problem of watering the sidewalk. According to some reports, this translates to saving around 15,000 gallons of water per year per home.
A healthy air package (not just an HVAC system)
Tenants don’t want literal headaches from their homes. But the average American spends 90% of the time indoors, where pollutant levels are 2-5 times outdoor levels. Upgrading your property to MERV-13 filtration, adding balanced ventilation, and using low-VOC paints and flooring is a simple way to support tenant health while justifying premium rent.
Lab tests show MERV-13 filtration can capture around 90% of PM2.5 contaminants and reduce cooking and wildfire particles. This is especially important in areas where air pollution and forest fire smoke are common.
Rooftop solar
Rooftop solar power can be a leasing magnet. On the right roof, a solar system can offset a meaningful chunk of electric usage to lower utility bills significantly. For tenants who prioritize green amenities, solar is at the top of the list of features they’ll pay a premium for.
Add eco-friendly features renters value
When you “go green,” you’re actually building pricing power. By offering tenants amenities and appliances that save money while providing comfort, you’re delivering the kind of value tenants won’t hesitate to pay more for. That means shorter vacancies, faster lease signings, and higher profits.
As world leaders and billionaires descend on Riyadh for this year’s Future Investment Initiative — better known as “Davos in the Desert” — we wonder where the planet fairs in all this political business talk. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan has turned the kingdom into an unlikely global stage for innovation and investment, drawing over 20 heads of state, 50 ministers, and hundreds of financiers, tech executives, and policy shapers.
Some of the “diplomats” include Syria’s newest leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani, a Syrian politician, revolutionary, and former leader of Al Qaeda, that once had a bounty of $10 million USD on his head. We can see where this is going.
I am always hopeful, if not naive. Can this gathering of powerbrokers truly help save the planet, or is it another round of green-tinted self-congratulation? The event’s stated goal is to explore “new pathways for global prosperity.” In practice, that has meant spotlighting artificial intelligence, clean energy, healthtech, and new financial models.
The 2025 program dedicates half its panels to technology — a smart move given AI’s potential to optimize energy grids, improve climate modeling, and make sustainable materials scalable. Yet the conference’s foundation remains an oil-wealth economy seeking reinvention.
That contradiction — a fossil-fuel kingdom hosting a climate-focused summit — is what makes Davos in the Desert both fascinating and ridiculous.
Those attending read like a cross-section of global capital: sovereign wealth fund managers, CEOs of major banks, and tech visionaries courting Middle Eastern investment. Delegations from Africa, Asia, and Europe are also there, positioning their nations for partnership in a rapidly diversifying Gulf. Deals worth billions will likely be announced — infrastructure, AI, renewables, even biotech.
Yet the “green” voice remains muted. Few grassroots environmentalists or Indigenous leaders will sit beside the financiers. And while Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in solar, hydrogen, and reforestation, the absence of climate justice advocates, biodiversity scientists, and youth voices limits what the event can achieve beyond rhetoric.
Who Should Be Invited Next Year?
If Davos in the Desert wants to pivot from an elite networking forum to a genuine force for ecological regeneration, the guest list must evolve. Imagine Indigenous guardians of the Amazon, coral reef scientists, African solar entrepreneurs, and women leading rewilding projects in the Sahel sharing the stage with Wall Street executives. These are the people who embody solutions already working on the ground — the missing link between boardroom strategy and planetary repair. Or real, proven climate tech leaders who don’t mince words? Where do the voices of reason get lost when big money is on the table?
Saudi Arabia’s desert may seem an unlikely place to host a green renaissance, but it could become one as we showed with the investment in the company iyris, a greenhouse tech developed by foreigners from the UK and Turkey. Water scarcity, heat, and rapid urbanization make the region a living laboratory for resilience. If the FII community directs even a fraction of its capital toward desert greening, regenerative agriculture, and circular infrastructure, it could turn the Gulf into a model for climate adaptation. Oil is not going to last forever. Wells may keep getting “released” but the moment we fix fusion and have limitless energy, the Gulf Countries will become obsolete. Their fancy cities will look like a mirage.
To save the planet, investment summits like this must go beyond pledges. They must measure success in restored ecosystems, revived species, and resilient communities — not just in GDP growth. Until then, Davos in the Desert remains but a mirage: shimmering with possibility, but still waiting for its true oasis moment.
We know about Chernobyl and Las Alamos: the lasting effects of radiation on the Saharan Tuareg in the desert
Between 1960 and 1966, seventeen nuclear detonations took place deep in Algeria’s Sahara Desert — first at Reggane and later in the Hoggar Mountains near In Ekker. Conducted under French supervision during the Cold War, these experiments were designed to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Their physical and political fallout is still with us.
The nuclear testing was not done in a vacuum and like at Las Alamos in New Mexico it affected the people nearby. In Algeria that was the Tuareg people. Others affected with the Berber-speaking nomadic group of the Sahara, whose territory spans large parts of southern Algeria; The Kel Ahaggar community which is a specific Tuareg confederation located in the Hoggar Mountains region off Algeria, and other local residents.
While less clearly documented in accessible sources, sites of the nuclear testing such as In Ekker and the surrounding desert zone indicate that French military, local manual workers, nomadic pastoralists, and their settlement communities were exposed.
The Hoggar Mountains (Arabic: جبال هقار, Berber: idurar n Ahaggar) are a highland region in the central Sahara, southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer.
A peer-reviewed study in Applied Radiation and Isotopesfound measurable levels of plutonium and other radionuclides remaining at former test sites decades after the final detonation. A broader review of global weapons tests published in Environmental Sciences Europe confirms that radioactive contamination from Sahara tests persists in soils and fractured rock and can be re-mobilized by desert winds. If England gets locusts blown to its shores from Egypt, imagine how far radioactive dust can travel.
Algeria declared independence from France in 1962, but the Évian Accords that ended open conflict also granted France continued access to certain military and research sites in the Sahara for up to five years after independence. These terms were negotiated between the French state and Algeria’s provisional government (the FLN leadership at the time). This means the testing program after 1962 did not happen in a legal vacuum: it was authorized in writing by the Algerian Government, and it served strategic interests on both sides at the time. There was a power imbalance, giving the Algerians not much choice.
For France, the Sahara was a proving ground for weapons credibility as the Americans did in the deserts around the Los Alamos nuclear testing facility, established in 1943 as Project Y, a top-secret site for designing nuclear weapons under the Manhattan Project during World War II. For Algeria’s new leadership, the agreement helped secure full political recognition, state continuity, and material support at a fragile moment of transition to their autonomy. The cost of that compromise was largely borne by remote southern communities, as is the case in many of today’s superpowers.
Gerboise Bleue siteThe nuclear bombs tested
Some of the underground nuclear shots tested at In Ekker were supposed to be fully contained. In reality, not all of them were. One detonation, known as the Béryl Incident (1 May 1962), vented radioactive dust and hot debris into the open air when the test tunnel’s seal failed. French military personnel, engineers, and nearby residents were all exposed –– some highly contaminated. Decades later, radiation dose reconstructions and site surveys continue to document contamination in the blast zones and surrounding scrap fields.
People living downwind describe long-term health problems, loss of grazing land, restrictions around traditional water sources, and the normalization of sickness with no official acknowledgment. The same which happend in Love Canada, USA, a site I visited in the 90s. This happens in Turkey today where the government fails to recognize cancer clusters in industrialized zones outside the city. One scientist we interviewed was threatened to be put in jail if he continued his scientific research on the issue.
French veterans of the Sahara tests have in some cases received recognition and partial compensation under later French law, while Algerian civilians have struggled to access comparable review or support. Algeria, like most countries in North Africa and the Middle East are about 30 to 40 years behind on environmental issues and research. It’s not so easy to point a finger and find a villain. Algeria, 65 years on does not have a great environmental record.
Algerian air quality is listed as Unhealthy via IQAir
Algeria faces a complex mix of environmental and pollution challenges that extend from its Mediterranean coast to its Saharan interior. The most pressing issue is air pollution in major cities such as Algiers, Oran, and Constantine, where outdated vehicles, industrial emissions, and open waste burning raise fine particulate (PM2.5) levels to more than three times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.
Air pollution in Algiers
Water contamination is another critical concern. Much of Algeria’s wastewater is released untreated into rivers and the sea, carrying agricultural runoff, heavy metals, and plastic debris. Coastal zones near industrial centers like Skikda and Annaba are among the most polluted in the southern Mediterranean, threatening fisheries and tourism. Groundwater in rural regions also suffers from nitrate and pesticide infiltration.
Finally, oil and gas extraction along with urban waste management gaps add to Algeria’s pollution load. While national plans now emphasize renewable energy, afforestation, and stricter environmental monitoring, progress remains uneven. The challenge is balancing economic growth with sustainable resource stewardship. With an estimated 2,400 billion cubic metres of proven conventional natural gas reserves, Algeria ranks 10th globally and first in Africa. It also has the third largest untapped unconventional gas resources in the world.
Algeria has 12.2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, ranking it 15th in the world and third in Africa. Currently, all oil and gas reserves are located on land and it is a major contributor to oil pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria is exploring new possibilities for oil and gas extraction, including offshore and shale gas opportunities.
The legacy of Sahara nuclear testing is often framed as a simple one-direction story, but the reality is more entangled. France designed, managed, and detonated the devices. Oversight after 1966 has involved both governments and, at times, international agencies. What has not happened at scale is transparent, long-term medical screening for affected communities and a full clean-up of contaminated waste that was left in place.
But putting it in scale, Algeria has a lot of environmental accounting to do. Just blaming France or “colonial” powers is short-sighted and distracting, absolving locals from trying to better on its own locally-made problems due to extremely high levels of corruption. At Green Prophet we zoom out and try to show you the wider story to issues that affect every human on this planet.
Want to learn more about the environment in Algeria? Start here:
Once a prized source of protein among Bedouin tribes, the Arabian spiny-tailed lizard—known locally as ḍabb or dhab—is finding new attention as a window into folk traditions, desert ecology, and sustainability in Saudi Arabia. Like locusts eaten by Jews in Egypt and Yemen (get the recipe here), lizard tails are delighting Saudi Arabians as news of this dish circles social media. The roots of lizard tails are rooted in survival, like Americans who eat prairie oysters, Gazans eating whales that swim close to shore, or pickled pigs’ feet were for slaves in the Caribbean.
In the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, long before farms and refrigeration, desert communities relied on their surroundings to survive. Among the most unusual yet enduring examples of this resilience is the tradition of eating the spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia), a reptile that thrives in the arid sands of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE. Known in Arabic as ḍabb or dhab, the creature has been hunted, roasted, and stewed for generations by Bedouins who considered it a gift from the desert.
Bedouin in Israel making rugs for their tents
In many tribes, dhab stew was seen not as an exotic but as essential—a reliable protein source that could be found during long migrations. Historical accounts from travelers and early British explorers describe entire desert feasts centered on lizard meat, cooked slowly over open fires and served with flatbread. The meat, they wrote, was “white, mild, and a little like chicken.”
The Arabian spiny-tailed lizard is herbivorous, feeding on desert grasses, making it clean and permissible (halal) to many desert dwellers. The Prophet Muhammad reportedly neither ate nor forbade the consumption of ḍabb, leading Islamic scholars to conclude that while it’s not a delicacy for all, it is permissible—especially in times of need. Bedouins respected the animal for its toughness and spiritual symbolism: surviving where few other creatures could. To eat it was to honor the desert’s wisdom.
Traditionally, the lizard was hunted using snares or chased into burrows, then roasted whole or cut into chunks for dhab stew—a mix of meat, desert herbs, salt, and occasionally camel milk. The dish embodied the values of resourcefulness, adaptation, and gratitude—hallmarks of Arabian desert culture that began in what is known as Saudi Arabia today.
From a sustainability perspective, the lizard stew tradition is more than a curiosity—it’s a reflection of a closed-loop ecosystem. Bedouins hunted only what was needed, never to excess. The spiny-tailed lizard helped maintain insect and grass balance in the fragile desert biome. Understanding how traditional diets aligned with natural cycles offers modern lessons for food security in the Gulf.
Today, as Saudi Arabia reexamines its cultural identity through Vision 2030, heritage foods like dhab are being discussed not just as relics but as pathways to sustainable living. Perhaps this dhab will be a featured dish at one of the Saudi’s so-called sustainable resorts.
How do you hunt the reptiles: “There are several ways to hunt the dabb lizard, one is to let it sink in water by pouring water into the hole and forcing it to come out, another way is by chasing it and hunting it especially if it is far from the hole, the other way of hunting it is to use a firearm,’’ said Saudi lizard hunter Majed al-Matrudi to Al Arabiya News.
This blog woldbirder provides photos and a recipe from Jordan:
Recipe for Dhub Mansaf (recipe from eastern Jordan)
2 whole dhubs
½ kilo rice
5 pieces Arabic bread (Khubz mashrouh)
¼ kilo laban or yoghurt
100 g ghee
50 g pine nuts
Salt, pepper, allspice, cardamom
Serves 2 to 3.
Method: Catch two adult, well-grown dhubs, skin them and remove organs (except liver). Cut the dhubs into small pieces, wash them and cook in a small amount of water together with spices until the meat is half done. Add the laban and simmer until tender. Add the browned ghee, reserving a small quantity to brown the pine nuts. Meanwhile in another saucepan cook the rice. Keeping some bread aside to dip, break open the rest over a large tray, leaving an edging around the rim. Spread more of the laban sauce over this and pile with rice. Arrange the pieces of dhub on top of the rice. Sprinkle the entire plate of rice and dhub, with browned pine nuts.
Eat with right hand.
Dhab biryani, a classic fish from Saudi Arabia
Like the problematic hunting of birds and owls in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, modernization has made lizard hunting largely symbolic. They are a protected animal in the UAE but are still reportedly eaten in Jordan.
The ḍahb population is under pressure from habitat loss, 4×4 vehicle use, and over-hunting. Conservationists now warn that without regulation, this ancient species could disappear from Saudi sands. The Saudi Wildlife Authority has begun monitoring populations and promoting education to protect the reptile’s role in the desert ecosystem. Since there is no free press in Saudi Arabia, your guess on how that’s going is as good as mine.
By exploring forgotten folk dishes like lizard stew, Green Prophet continues to connect the dots between culture, ecology, and the future of sustainable living in the Middle East.
An Analytical Report on the TEDxOmid Architecture Event Titled “Narratives of Responsive Architecture” in Tehran, Iran
On the 10th of Mehr 1404 (corresponding to October 1, 2025), coinciding with the commemoration of World Architecture Day in Iran, the TEDxOmid Architecture event was held. Licensed under the official licence of the international TED organization, this program was designed to promote contemporary architectural perspectives, sustainable development, and the social responsibility of architects.
The event is notable from two aspects; first, its connection to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 lies in adopting a critical, forward‐looking, and transdisciplinary approach as a platform for dialogue and experimentation with environmental, technological, and social strategies, reflecting the Biennale’s mission to address global challenges through multidisciplinary collaboration and adaptive design philosophies.
And second, the method of selecting the speakers and their performance, who were ostensibly introduced as bearers of responsive and people-centric ideas. However, a closer examination of their lecture content and professional resumes reveals signs of a significant gap between the proclaimed slogans and their actual practice.
According to the official statement, the program was held to review and present innovative solutions by architects for major environmental and social challenges such as environmental degradation, inequality, injustice, class disparity, the human share of the city and green spaces, and to create a world that cherishes life and flourishing over mere existence. The declared goal was to demonstrate that architecture can respond to these challenges and play its part in reproducing social justice and ecological balance.
The composition of the speakers at the TED event indicates that they have played effective roles within Iran in reproducing urban injustices and exacerbating environmental problems such as water and air pollution, or at the very least, their professional resumes have largely shown little transparency, both in theory and practice, regarding responsible commitments. This contradiction between the announced slogans and the actual backgrounds of the speakers is the central axis of analysis in this Green Prophet exclusive report, which will be examined in detail.
The TED charter and criteria emphasize a deep commitment to environmental sensitivities and scientific standards. It is expected that speakers, in addition to having innovative ideas, possess scientific and practical backgrounds in their professional fields. This part of TED’s principles specifies that talks must be based on well-founded and verifiable findings, and that unscientific claims or unsustainable development activities have no place.
While the TED speaker selection process is conducted with high precision and scientific and professional reviews, unfortunately, in events like TEDxOmid Architecture in Iran, most of the participating speakers have had weak scientific and practical achievements in specialized fields such as responsive architecture and sustainable development. Their backgrounds are more focused on unsustainable development activities.
Bonsar architects by Mohammad Majidi organize TEDx in Iran. Greenwashing?
On the other hand, in international arenas, projects and programs like Countdown, in collaboration with scientists, policymakers, and environmental activists, carry out coherent and scientific activities to combat the climate crisis, and in‐depth, specialized discussions on major urban and social topics like gentrification are held, featuring speakers with outstanding resumes in sustainable development.
Reza Daneshmir’s TMA concrete mosque in Tehran. We all know concrete is not sustainable.
This contrast shows that strict adherence to scientific and ethical frameworks and criteria in selecting speakers is key to maintaining the credibility and impact of TED-related events. Therefore, critiquing the TEDxOmid Architecture event can be based on these very frameworks to demonstrate how the mismatch between the speakers and TED principles has negative consequences for the scientific and social integrity of the event.
Nesha architects in Iran. Exploiting green messaging?
This complicates the correct path towards achieving a bright future and sustainable development for Iran and simultaneously diminishes public trust in the accuracy and honesty with which issues are expressed; while Iran deeply needs a foundation for public trust-building so that people and society can move in sync with these essential approaches.
An overview of the speakers can be assessed based on two criteria: one through their articles and research efforts, and the other through architectural and urban projects, which can be obtained by referring to each speaker-architect’s personal website: Bonsar, TMA, Nesha.
Can Vitruvius’s three fundamental principles of architecture — stability, beauty, and utility — be redefined, and can the responsiveness of architectural action in today’s era be interpreted beyond these three concepts, in a more complete, precise, and updated way? What are architects’ solutions to issues such as environmental destruction, inequality and injustice, class divides, and humanity’s share of the city and green spaces — for a world that values living and flourishing, not merely existing? How does socially conscious design, as the architect’s social responsibility for the common good, find expression within the discipline of architecture? The format of the presentation is a narrative — an endless narrative with an open ending that may not be entirely clear. It is situational, in a state of becoming, and includes an invitation for all architects to participate.
Considering the status of the projects, especially in Tehran, it becomes clear that many of the speakers are among the most prominent brand architects in the field of commercial towers, banks, and mall developers. In contrast, social and environmental projects are either non-existent or very faint, often executed on a commissioned and short-term basis according to the demands of government bodies and large financial institutions.
This focus primarily on tower and commercial projects, created without regard for the real needs of society and serving more as displays of power for banks and powerful institutions, indicates a major void in contemporary architectural approaches. Such a trend not only limits the research and scientific value of the speakers but also has widespread negative consequences for sustainable urban development, social justice, and public trust. If scientific and social approaches are not considered in the selection of speakers and projects, the risk of diluting the primary mission of education, impact, and social responsibility in architectural events increases.
In Iran, there is practically no integrated and transparent reporting on the sustainability and environmental indicators of projects, whereas in Europe, such reports and standard certifications are mandatory, even for small projects. For example, large residential or commercial projects in European countries cannot obtain construction permits without acquiring certifications like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED is an international standard that assesses the sustainable performance of buildings in areas such as energy consumption, water resource use, indoor air quality, material selection, and waste management, granting official certification to projects complying with these principles.
On a larger urban scale, projects like King’s Cross Central in London are examples of sustainable urban regeneration and development, where all its phases have been assessed against LEED and BREEAM standards, and environmental indicators, energy consumption, and the quality of life for residents and space users are continuously monitored.
King’s Cross in London
For this reason, the companies founded by these architects lack any official confirmation of adherence to even the basic principles of sustainability and environmental standards, while in Europe, compliance with such standards is considered a prerequisite for professional activity and a sign of credible, sustainable architecture and urban development.
On the other hand, in the academic and scientific context, experts and researchers agree that high-rise construction without targeted placement in Tehran has altered the urban wind flow and, by blocking natural wind corridors, negatively impacts air ventilation. This leads to the accumulation and increased concentration of pollutants and exacerbates air pollution.
Specifically, permits for high‐rise construction in sensitive areas like District 1 of Tehran, which is the main route for north-to‐south winds, have blocked this natural wind channel and caused extensive environmental damage. The sale of density permits and the construction of tall towers have reduced wind flow at the city level, and during temperature inversion in winter, pollutants are trapped in the surface air, increasing pollution.
Studies from the University of Tehran and the research institute of the country’s Meteorological Organization, as well as reports from the Supreme Council of Urban Planning and Architecture, confirm these impacts and state that high-rise buildings in the city’s air corridors, by reducing wind speed, cause “air stagnation” and the accumulation of pollutant particles. Thus, high-rise construction indirectly plays a role in increasing Tehran’s air pollution, although some city managers have denied this effect, but scientific studies and official reports emphasize it.
Until now, little attention has been paid to the importance of architecture and construction—whether beautiful or incongruous—and to what extent architecture and building can have a destructive impact on climate change and be considered a factor of environmental risk.
Climate change is not spontaneous and passive –– rather, it is the result of limitless exploitation of nature and unbridled construction based on a lack of adaptation to fundamental contextual needs, which occurs gradually. This process is like a silent and even misleading death, where today in Isfahan, Tehran, and Mazandaran we clearly face terrifying news such as land subsidence, severe air pollution, etc.
Climate change is a serious threat to Iran and, on a larger scale, to the planet Earth, but the dangerous part is thinking that this phenomenon is limited to one province or region and cannot, for example, cause severe and similar crises in Gilan as in Isfahan and Tehran.
Urban and even rural construction patterns have so far been accompanied by a serious restriction of groundwater arteries, which can be reached even with a two‐meter excavation. It must be understood that based on soil type and these underground aquifers, Gilan is considered a sensitive habitat, and this team and this type of development outlook, lacking scientific, academic, and practical backing, can never offer a bright prospect for this region.
The People?
Who are the “people” and what is called “architecture”? A question that seems simple on the surface, but at its core challenges the boundaries between life, society, and form. Today’s understanding of architecture, especially within the global academic sphere, is transitioning from mere aesthetics towards a concept referred to as “architectures of care” and Responsive Architecture. It should be an approach that asks:
Who is this project for?
What impact does it have on the environment and society?
And how much environmental, social, and financial resources does it consume or revitalise?
In such a perspective, the social and environmental critique of Iranian architecture is an exploration along this very path, but within a cultural context that acts more resistantly and complexly towards change.
The Position of Iranian Architecture in Facing Change
The fundamental question is where Iranian architecture stands today and in which direction it is moving. While global architectural discourse has moved towards concepts such as livability, resilience, spatial justice, and cultural sustainability, the space of Iranian architecture remains largely stagnated in aesthetic and formal layers.
This situation has several key characteristics:
Architectural criticism is often limited to formal and superficial judgments;
Key concepts related to environment and society remain at the theoretical stage and have not found practical translation; And the professional community shows defensive and sometimes denialist behaviour towards social critique. This gap between global discourse and local reality has placed Iranian architecture in a state of transition; a situation where neither has the past paradigm been completely abandoned, nor has the new horizon been clearly established.
The Prospect of Transformation in Iranian Architecture
Ronak Roshan
On a global scale, the concept of “architecture of care” and responsive architecture is gradually becoming one of the fundamental values of contemporary architecture.
In Iran, scattered signs of this change are emerging: Projects that show attention to everyday life, local context, and social capacities. But they have not yet reached the level of a pervasive and structural discourse. However, given the historical background and civilisation of the Iranian plateau, one can hope that achieving it is not out of reach. In this framework, eco-centric and social architecture strives to re-establish the connection between environment, society, and form.
Club House by Ronak Roshan
Research in this field is based on co-existence; a search for achieving a multidimensional understanding of society and everyday life, and a way to recognise the invisible layers of collective life.
Ronak Roshan – Iranian architects need to understand where we came from and where we are going
What is taking shape on this path is a new chapter of thought and research in Iranian architecture; a chapter whose progress relies on strategic management, a gradual understanding of context, and reflection on minute and hidden details. Elements whose meaning and impact are revealed only over time, and the establishment of correct laws and definition of standards will shape a more sustainable path for the foundation of Iran’s future architecture.
Ronak Roshan – humanscale, building on Iranian traditions and values
Perhaps for this context, which has distanced itself from its natural, cultural, and social grounds over several decades, the fundamental question is how can Iranian architecture be conceived? Architecture in such conditions must be re-read not merely as a physical form, but as a system of meaning, life, and collective reflection, and its examples should involve trust-building within a society that itself has been pioneering and has a brilliant resume.
Ronak Roshan attend the prestigious Grand Prix du Design Paris (GPDP) Awards
The new generations today well know that the environment, as the context of architecture, is no longer a secondary or decorative subject; rather, it is the foundation that defines the very possibility of architecture’s continuity. If we consider architecture the language of the relationship between humans and the earth, then disconnection from the local environment is, in fact, a disconnection from meaning. Therefore, rethinking Iranian architecture inevitably involves returning to this fundamental connection between land, society, and form—a connection that finds meaning not at the level of imitating past indigenous patterns, but in the conscious reproduction of livable and contemporary values.
But another question is, where lies the boundary of architecture’s efficacy? Is architecture only effective to the extent that it responds to physical needs, or does it gain meaning when it can form a system of care, coexistence, and environmental reproduction, and consider its impact on a larger geography? And ultimately, who can be the narrator?
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Ronak Roshan Gilvaei Architect & Researcher | Sustainable Design, Architectural Restoration & Urban Renewal, based in Iran. The author reached out to TED organizers and there was no comment.
In a key moment for global nature policy, the world’s governments have sketched the roadmap for the first collective review of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) — the landmark pact adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
At the 27th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-27) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in Panama City, Parties agreed that the upcoming global review must be “facilitative, not punitive” — designed to build momentum and accountability rather than impose sanctions. The organization has used the acronym CBD, one of the key molecules in cannabis. Don’t be confused.
The meeting, attended by 800 delegates from around the world, focused on shaping the outline of the global progress report on the KMGBF’s 23 targets for 2030 — the targets which all 196 Parties to the CBD approved in 2022. The session also emphasised tighter coordination across climate, biodiversity and desertification treaties — underscoring a growing recognition that nature-loss, greenhouse-gas emissions and dry-land degradation are interlinked crises needing unified solutions.
As Panama’s Environment Minister, Juan Carlos Navarro, stated: “science-based decisions that deliver concrete results for people and life on Earth.” The agreed blueprint will guide the review process towards measurable outcomes and meaningful policy shifts rather than box-ticking.
The review – scheduled for 2026 in the lead-up to COP 17 (Yerevan, Armenia, October 2026) – will be anchored around five core axes:
Assess how countries are developing and implementing biodiversity plans, how inclusive and regionally representative they are, and how coordination, support and capacity-building are working.
Measure collective progress toward the KMGBF’s 23 global targets, comparing national and global goals, assessing successes, challenges and contributions from non-state actors.
Evaluate progress toward the Framework’s four overarching goals: summarising data and indicators, linking to targets, and offering science-based, non-binding options to address obstacles.
Examine means of implementation: identifying gaps in finance, institutional capacity, and specific challenges faced by developing countries, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and youth.
Review global cooperation: how multilateral agreements, institutions and non-governmental actors contribute to advancing the Framework’s vision for nature.
In the words of CBD Executive Secretary Astrid Schomaker: “This review is a vital checkpoint for the world’s commitment to nature. It allows us to see, with evidence and transparency, how far we’ve come … and where we must accelerate.” Still, she cautioned: “We’re running out of time … We must speed up our efforts and move towards taking action.”
Why This Matters for CleanTech, Finance & the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Region
For the cleantech and sustainability sector — especially in the MENA region and emerging markets — this review sends critical signals that nature-positive investments will increasingly be measured not just by carbon outcomes, but by biodiversity, ecosystem service, and community outcomes as well.
Trade-offs between climate mitigation, land use and biodiversity are under scrutiny — meaning renewable energy, agritech, restoration and finance innovations must integrate biodiversity risk and opportunity. Developing countries, women, youth and Indigenous or local communities are now front and centre in measuring progress — policy, finance and technology must align accordingly.
Regional collaboration across climate, biodiversity and land-degradation architectures is gaining traction. Firms and funds operating in the MENA region should watch how cooperation, data-sharing and financing evolve.
For investors and entrepreneurs, the 2026 review offers a milestone for aligning new business models, green bonds or nature-based finance with emerging global biodiversity standards and expectations.
The upcoming KMGBF review is more than bureaucratic box-checking. It is a strategic inflection point: whether countries will shift from ambition to delivery, whether the private sector and civil society scale nature-positive business models, and whether global architecture for biodiversity, climate and land degradation will evolve toward coherence.
For the MENA region — facing climate stress, rapid land-use change, water scarcity and ecosystem vulnerability — this means stepping up. Governments, investors, start-ups and NGOs must align to the emerging agenda: biodiversity as a core pillar of sustainable development and climate action, not a side-note.
If we seize this moment, the 2026 review can catalyse a new wave of finance (see Green Finance mechanisms in the UAE), innovation and policy coherence — and move us closer to the vision of a nature-positive world by 2050. If not, the checkpoint risks becoming another missed opportunity while ecosystems, livelihoods and economies continue to degrade.
The United Arab Emirates is no longer just a story of oil wealth and desert skyscrapers — it’s a case study in how sovereign wealth can accelerate the global clean-energy transition. In just two decades, the UAE has turned its hydrocarbon legacy into one of the world’s most ambitious green-finance ecosystems, creating opportunities that now extend far beyond its borders.
At the heart of this transformation is Masdar, the UAE’s flagship renewable-energy company jointly owned by ADNOC, Mubadala, and TAQA. Once known for building the futuristic Masdar City, today it leads projects in over 40 countries across six continents. Masdar’s renewable portfolio has exceeded 50 GW, with a target of 100 GW and one million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. Its $1 billion green bond in 2025 — oversubscribed 6.6 times — shows how global investors are voting for its credibility.
Backing this is a surge of sovereign-level finance. At COP28, the UAE launched the Alterra Fund, a $30 billion climate-investment vehicle designed to mobilize $250 billion by 2030. The UAE Banks Federation has also pledged AED 1 trillion (~$270 billion) toward sustainable finance by 2030. Few countries have matched this scale of capital alignment between government, banks, and business.
The regulatory environment is catching up fast. Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), and the Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) have all adopted frameworks for green and sustainability-linked bonds, ESG disclosure, and carbon trading. The AirCarbon Exchange, launched in 2022, became the world’s first regulated carbon-credit trading platform, positioning the UAE as a bridge between Asian and European carbon markets.
Why does this matter to investors? Because green finance in the UAE is not just policy — it’s deal flow. The market now channels billions into renewable energy, electric mobility, water security, and sustainable real estate. For global investors, this means access to well-structured, de-risked opportunities with sovereign backing — and proximity to the fastest-growing markets in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a dominant force in the Middle East’s green-finance landscape, driven by strong government commitments, influential sovereign-wealth funds, and clear regulatory frameworks. The market continues to grow in sophistication and volume, reinforced by initiatives following COP28. The country first came on our radar in and around 2008 when it began developing Masdar City, which was to be a zero carbon city. It has become an innovation hub and poster for the country’s sovereign wealth that is investing in cleantech and innovation. As the UAE knows full well, the fossil fuel economy can’t grow innovation or a future once the world reaches peak oil, or peak tolerance for carbon emissions.
Market Leadership and Growth
Masdar created the world’s first modern, zero-energy city.
How does the UAE lead in bond market resilience? The UAE remains a primary source of sustainable bond issuance in the Middle East. While regional issuance saw a slight dip in 2024 due to global economic factors, the market is expected to recover, with S&P Global Ratings projecting USD 18 to 23 billion in total regional sustainable-bond issuance for 2025.
Financial-institution dominance: Financial institutions drive a large portion of the sustainable-bond market in the UAE, while corporate issuances have been more volatile.
Green financing in the UAE focuses heavily on renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable real estate, and transportation.
The Catalytic Role of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)
Leading wealth funds: Abu Dhabi-based entities like Mubadala, ADQ, and Masdar are pivotal in driving the UAE’s green transition.
Masdar’s green bonds:
As a global clean-energy leader, Masdar uses its green bonds to finance greenfield projects in renewable energy, green hydrogen, and battery storage. In May 2025, Masdar’s third USD 1 billion green bond was oversubscribed by 6.6 times, attracting strong international and regional investor interest. The proceeds have been deployed globally, supporting solar, wind, and storage projects. Masdar releases 2024 Green Finance Report.
Masdar City never reached its projected population but it now houses thousands of students, residents, and businesses (e.g., Siemens, IRENA). It’s a functioning R&D and university hub, not abandoned.
The Alterra Fund:
Launched by the UAE at COP28 with a USD 30 billion commitment, Alterra aims to mobilise USD 250 billion by 2030 to finance the new climate economy. It includes a USD 5 billion arm focused on catalysing investment in underserved markets.
ADQ’s strategy:
ADQ embeds ESG principles across its portfolio and has a dedicated Sustainable Finance Framework to guide its investments toward creating a low-carbon economy.
Mubadala’s commitment:
Mubadala integrates sustainability across its investment lifecycle and has committed to achieving net-zero emissions across its global portfolio by 2050.
ADGM’s framework: In 2023, ADGM implemented a comprehensive sustainable-finance regulatory framework, including ESG disclosure requirements and regulatory designations for various green financial instruments.
Combating greenwashing: The ADGM framework and SCA regulations aim to mitigate greenwashing by requiring third-party verification, regular reporting and adherence to international standards like the ICMA Green Bond Principles. Because the UAE does not have a history or culture of free press, we cannot verify how those international standards will be monitored and supervised.
UAE Sustainable Finance Working Group: The SFWG, which includes federal regulators, is actively developing a nationwide taxonomy and pushing for enhanced sustainability disclosures. International third parties, without monetary stakes must be involved in supervision of policies and procedures.
The UAE continues to rollout frameworks such as the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 in support of its transition to a green economy.
Carbon market: In 2022, ADGM launched the world’s first regulated carbon-credit trading exchange, the AirCarbon Exchange (ACX).
Capacity building: Forums such as the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum and educational initiatives from ADGM are building awareness and expertise in sustainable finance.
Green Finance Mechanisms and Models in the UAE: A Strategic Blueprint for a Sustainable Economy
The UAE is rapidly cementing its position as a global leader in green finance, moving beyond its traditional role as an oil-dependent economy to become a hub for sustainable investment. A sophisticated mix of regulatory frameworks, strategic investments by sovereign wealth funds and innovative financial instruments is driving this transition. Backed by ambitious targets like the UAE Net Zero 2050 Strategic Initiative, the country has built a robust ecosystem for financing a green economy.
Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Primary Catalysts
At the heart of the UAE’s green finance strategy are its influential SWFs, which are transitioning from traditional capital allocators to strategic enablers of sustainable finance. Their long-term investment horizons make them ideal for funding large-scale, capital-intensive green projects.
The Alterra Fund, launched with a USD 30 billion seed at COP28, aims to mobilise USD 250 billion by 2030 for global climate action. It has a unique two-part structure, including a USD 5 billion arm dedicated to de-risking investments in the Global South.
Masdar, owned by ADNOC, TAQA and Mubadala, is a global catalyst for sustainable development. It has been instrumental in issuing green bonds and scaling clean-energy projects internationally.
Masdar is the the UAE’s flagship renewable energy company. Compare it to Neom in Saudi Arabia. Masdar has become one of the world’s most active clean energy investors, with projects in more than 40 countries across six continents. Established in 2006 and jointly owned by ADNOC, Mubadala, and TAQA, Masdar operates and develops solar, wind, and green hydrogen projects with a current portfolio exceeding 50 gigawatts of capacity. Masdar also buys companies, and bought a 50% stake in the US business Terra-Gen last year. While the sum was not disclosed, it’s estimated to be a deal worth $500 Mllion
The company’s ambition is to reach 100 GW of installed renewable capacity and produce one million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030. Its projects stretch from the deserts of Abu Dhabi to the steppes of Uzbekistan, where Masdar is developing multi-gigawatt wind farms, and to the Philippines, where it has signed a $15 billion deal for solar, wind, and battery storage projects.
Shams 1
In Europe, Masdar has expanded into Spain and Portugal through the acquisition of a large wind and solar portfolio, while in Africa and island nations like Seychelles it supports off-grid solar and microgrid systems. Domestically, its Shams 1 solar plant remains a regional landmark. Collectively, Masdar’s projects generate more than 26,000 GWh of clean power each year, offsetting around 14 million tonnes of carbon emissions, and symbolizing the UAE’s broader ambition to lead the global clean energy transition.
Innovative financial instruments for foreign investment
The UAE has adopted and adapted a variety of financial instruments to channel capital toward sustainable projects, leveraging both conventional and Islamic finance models.
Blended finance: UAE financial institutions, supported by the UAE Banks Federation’s pledge of AED 1 trillion toward green finance by 2030, are increasingly applying blended finance models to attract private capital for sustainable projects.
Carbon-credit trading: The ADGM-based AirCarbon Exchange turns emissions reductions into tradable financial assets, creating a new frontier of green-finance innovation.
Regulatory frameworks
Robust and proactive regulation from both financial free zones and federal bodies is essential for building investor trust and mitigating green-washing risks.
ADGM: A free-zone regulator that now offers regulatory “labels” for Green, Climate Transition and Sustainability-Linked funds and mandates ESG disclosures.
DIFC: The Dubai International Financial Centre runs its own Sustainable Finance Framework and recently launched a Sustainable Finance Catalyst, an AI-driven platform to boost sustainable-finance investment flows.
While the UAE’s green-finance landscape is advanced, significant challenges remain. A unified national green taxonomy is still in development, regulatory differences persist between mainland and free-zone jurisdictions, and data transparency and capacity building remain work-in-progress. Nevertheless, major growth opportunities lie ahead, including:
Increased focus on green infrastructure beyond renewable energy—such as water and waste management.
Green fintech platforms and climate-technology innovation environments.
Improved ESG data-quality and disclosure frameworks, enabling more informed investment decisions.
Investing in the UAE gives investors close access to Asian markets.
With its religious tolerance policy and a current embrace of western culture, despite practicing Sharia law, UAE’s green-finance model is dynamic and forward-looking — built on a foundation of sovereign wealth, regulatory sophistication and market-driven innovation. This multi-pronged approach not only underpins its own national climate ambition, but positions the UAE as a critical engine for mobilising global climate-finance flows into the sustainable economy of the next decade. It is certainly leading the green financing market by far in the Middle East, in practice and action.
Zakat, taxes and cultural surprises in the UAE
Mosques collect zakat, Muslim charity. It might be a mandatory tax if you do business in a Sharia-law, Muslim country like the UAE.
Beyond finance-instruments and regulation, investors and companies operating in the UAE should be aware of several cultural, religious and tax-related “surprises.”
Zakat is a Muslim duty: Though the UAE does not officially mandate zakat under federal law, many Muslim-owned businesses voluntarily observe it as a religious obligation. Typical calculation is about 2.5 % of eligible wealth (cash, inventory, receivables) after deducting liabilities. And of course, there are regulations, lawayers and advisers in this space: see Zakat advisory & compliance services in the UAE.
If you want to live in the UAE and raise a family there, it’s not easy to become a citizen: Non-Muslims can become citizens of the United Arab Emirates, but the process is highly selective and tightly controlled. Traditionally, UAE citizenship was reserved almost entirely for Emiratis by birth. However, since 2021, the UAE has introduced special pathways for foreigners with exceptional contributions to the country. Citizenship if granted, is mostly symbolic. They don’t have an open-immigration process for the millions of laborers who come there from Pakistan or India. Unlike, Canada.
Corporate Tax (CT): As of 1 June 2023 for qualifying businesses, a standard rate of 9% on taxable income exceeding AED 375 000. KPMG corporate tax overview.
Additional levies: Municipal taxes on rental contracts, hotel services, and selective “excise” taxes on certain goods (e.g., energy drinks, tobacco). See: TAXATION OF INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVES – UAE guide.
Cultural surprises:
Business relations in the UAE are still heavily influenced by personal trust, relationship-building, and local customs. Respect for Islamic tradition, Friday prayer schedules and Ramadan timing remain very important important if you are doing business there. Things which are normal at home, may not be acceptable in the UAE, like having cannabis in your blood or using CBD oil. If you come on an official visit, invited by a person of power of influence you should be fine.
Operational licence regimes differ across emirates and free-zones: rules can vary between Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other emirates so on-the-ground due diligence is critical.
The regulatory framework for green finance is young and evolving — local interpretation of “green” or “sustainable” may still diverge from global norms, so verification and local partner-insight matter.
