Advertising itself as Israel’s first food-focused conference, “Mazon Le-Machshava” or food for thought, opens in the Tel Aviv port next Thursday, November 19. In addition to a Top Chef-style cookdown to produce the tastiest meal with the lowest carbon footprint, the conference also promises conversations about farming, energy and water. It taps into a growing trend […]
Listen up Middle East: The UN wants stronger laws for protecting land, water and wildlife during times of conflict. If the cost of human life isn’t enough for our species to understand, the UN has issued a report on enforcing the laws in place to protect the environment during conflict. Precious desert lilies plowed over […]
Keen on doing business in the Gulf region? This might be your conference. The Gulf Environment Forum – the first comprehensive environmental conference and exhibition to take place in the Persian Gulf region – has been planned and is going to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 7-9, 2010. The forum is being […]
A ban on alcohol sanitizer products and a looming swine flu, may keep pilgrims away from Hajj. As the annual Hajj or pilgrimage to the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina draw near, the question once again is whether the Saudi government can adequately deal with more than 3 + million pilgrims that are […]
Al Gore receives award for his anti global warming efforts Al Gore, who barely lost (or won) the US Presidential election in November 2000, and vowed never to return to US political life, appears to have come out a winner for not doing so. The former Vice President for 8 years under the Clinton Administration decided […]
Syria faces a severe drought. A shift in weather patterns, or just a dry season? A severe water shortage in Syria is forcing farmers to look for alternative means of livelihood but the drought’s impact doesn’t end with the crops. Around a quarter of a million Syrian farmers have been forced to abandon their land […]
The eastern squat toilet is the world’s perfect eco-toilet. Come and look inside. Some people think they’re primitive, but I love them. The hole-in-the-floor Middle East squat toilets can be found in Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt –– and likely in other Middle East countries I’ve yet to visit. They’re used in China too. Not […]
Marine research on the Red Sea will be more serious, thanks to new ship. With pirates, environmental pollution, increasing water traffic and a collapse of coral reefs, a new research ship with its course set for the Red Sea port of Eilat is good news for us to hear. According to Hebrew University in Jerusalem, […]
No red carpets for us environment-lovers, stupid! The typical Hollywood movie premiere is a scenario that we’re all pretty familiar with: celebrities pull up to the red carpet in large, gas-guzzling cars (what would happen if Brad Pitt and George Clooney carpooled in a Smart Car for a change?), pose for the photographers, and then […]
A wind farm in Turkey. Should Turkey look east to oil-rich countries, or west to renewables? Turkey seems to be becoming more interested in renewable energy these days, especially in the areas of solar, geothermal like that of Ormat, and wind energy. But the future of this country, which straddles the link between east and […]
Artistic rendition of the Timna Renewable energy park In Eilat During a speech at the recent 2009 Israel Presidents Conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that Israel is embarking on programs to enable it to be almost entirely reliant on alternative energy systems by the year 2020. This plan, which many people see as more of […]
Non-profit groups from 18 developing countries called on Saudi Arabia to “stop playing an obstructionist role” in the current climate change negotiations in Barcelona, claiming the oil kingdom’s delaying tactics will hurt the world’s poor. “Developing countries need all the support they can get,” said Wael Hmaidan of IndyACT Lebanon and founder of the Arab […]
Without any change in policy, Israel may be heading to double its current emissions by 2030. According to the Jerusalem Post, a study commissioned by Israel’s Minister of the Environment Gilad Erdan (left) and executed by the McKinsey consulting firm found that Israel’s problem is high population growth coupled with rising standards of living. The […]
BrightSource solar energy company could be part of the alternative energy solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be interested in leading his country away from its current dependence on imported oil and into various forms of alternative energy. But he wants his vision to go far beyond the borders of the tiny State […]
Climate change activists are pooling their resources as we speak in Barcelona at the Barcelona Climate Change Talks. This is an antecedent to the big United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December where countries are expected to draft real solutions to stopping the over-production of greenhouse gases. Part-time Green Prophet Stacy Feldman reports […]