It has been two years since Mohamed Ashraf Abdel Samad founded Shagara – a non profit organization that aims to green Cairo with urban rooftop farms and other carbon-sapping trees and plants – and virtually every day since has been a struggle. After studying for some time in Norway, where his “semi hippie” friends introduced […]
Abu Dhabi has the world’s 5th highest proven oil reserve and the 6th highest reserve of natural gas. This is a hydrocarbon-based economy that – at first glance – should have no incentive to reduce their carbon footprint. And yet the United Arab Emirates as a whole seems to be taking climate change a lot […]
Checkpoints set up by the Israeli military and social expectations don't stop members of the Middle East's first all-women racing team as they speed between the cities of the West Bank in high-octane car races.
Every year it’s the same thing. Hundreds of delegates from around the world fly somewhere to agree to climate change solutions. Journalists bemoan the lack of progress, environmentalists criticize the amount of carbon emissions spewed into the atmosphere as a result and the public at large completely loses faith in the process. The UN Convention of […]
This month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP18) will be hosted by Qatar, the tiny peninsula nation in the Persian Gulf that holds the world record for per capita CO2 emissions. According to a report entitled Indicators of Sustainable Development 2011 released by Qatar’s statistics’ authority, the state has experienced a 27% annual increase in […]
If we all lived like the citizens of the UAE, we would need 5.4 planet earths to sustain us… Sometimes the best way to say something is not with words but images. And there is truly no better wake up call to the UAE than this amazing infographic designed by Tim De Chant. It shows […]
The privately-owned Abdali development company promises that the new 384,000 sqm commercial center in the heart of Jordan’s capital Amman will offer “lush inviting spaces that beckon and call for your attention.” “Notice the elements subtly woven into the new downtown’s [sic] environment,” their web marketing person gushed. “Delight in the blossoming urban forest close […]
Not to be outdone by Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, Dubai will soon begin construction on its own ‘sustainable city,’ where green transportation options include horses. Lest it seem that the new 743,000m2 development project entails a remarkable step backward, solar-powered vehicles are also planned, which is every bit as ambitious (and unlikely) as Masdar’s long-since-abandoned […]
According to the World Wildlife Fund’s latest report, Qatar still has the world’s largest carbon footprint It’s been a couple of years since Qatar was awarded the ‘largest carbon footprint in the world‘ title (relative to the size of its population), but it appears little has changed since then. Despite various green initiative such as […]
Determined to make a positive environmental contribution, the UK-based clothing manufacturer DGrade perfected a method that converts recycled plastic into yarn. They use 20% less water, 50% less energy, and produce 55% less carbon emissions than the cotton manufacturing process requires, and they have recently opened a branch in the Dubai mall. (As of 2022 it […]
Half as tall as the Burj Dubai, this soaring tower (if realized) could absorb some of Cairo’s crowds. How to deal with Cairo’s crowds is a complex dilemma that IAMZ Design Studio has approached with this soaring Father and Son Skyscraper. Inspired by the relationship between a father and son, the young Egyptian architect has […]
Biodiversity preservation, waste management, and securing water sources are just a few of the principles being applied to convert Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh diving destination into an “green city.” Egypt’s Ministers of Environment and Tourism signed a tripartite agreement with the South Sinai governor to convert the popular Egyptian diving town Sharm el-Sheikh into a bonafide […]
Recent discoveries have confirmed scientists’ longstanding fears that global warming would catalyze the release of millions of tons of potential greenhouse gas emissions locked up in ice and permafrost in the great white north. Layer after layer of plant debris that has not yet decomposed lies trapped in arctic and subarctic permafrost. As global temperatures […]
At the ongoing Eye on Earth summit in Abu Dhabi, there has been a lot of talk about sharing environmental data. But we question whether knowledge is enough. As early as 1930, a British engineer named Guy Calendar warned that increased carbon emissions as a result of industrialization was beginning to raise the global surface […]
Santa takes a ride on a camel in Doha, Qatar, where it was recently announced the COP 18 talks will be held. Santa has the lowest carbon footprint of them all. He doesn’t drive in fossil-fueled cars to deliver his eco-friendly gifts. Instead, he relies on his trusted team of reindeers. Not big meat eaters, […]