Egypt, a country where pharaohs once commanded the Nile and cats enjoyed diplomatic immunity, is now wrestling with modern environmental challenges that no ancient scribe could have predicted. The nation faces a complex tangle of issues: rapid urbanization, shrinking green spaces, plastic waste that seems to multiply like desert mirages, and the slow but steady warming of the Mediterranean and Red Sea. Add to that the annual drama of the Nile — too much water, too little water, or water carrying things that nobody wants to swim with — and you have a country navigating a delicate ecological tightrope.
But Egypt isn’t just struggling; it’s also innovating. And some of its most creative solutions come not from ministries but from civil society. Nature Conservation Egypt is one of the country’s leading environmental NGOs, championing bird protection, wetland conservation, and the survival of migratory species that treat Egypt like an airport lounge on their way between continents. Their fieldwork in places like Lake Qarun and the Red Sea wetlands has quietly shaped policy for years.
Then there’s HEPCA — the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association — a powerhouse NGO guarding the Red Sea’s coral reefs from overfishing, careless tourism, and the occasional boat captain who mistakes a reef for a parking spot. HEPCA’s mooring buoy system has become a regional model, proving that even popular tourist hubs can protect biodiversity when the rules are clear and the buoys are bright blue.
New sustainability movements are popping up too: youth-led recycling initiatives in Cairo, clean-energy startups in Alexandria, gardens and hydroponics farms on rooftops and Nile cleanup campaigns that feel half environmental crusade, half street festival. Egypt’s ambitious Benban Solar Park, one of the largest in the world, shows what national-scale renewable energy can look like when the sun cooperates — and in Egypt, it usually does. Almost every day is a beach day.
BenBan Solar Park from above. The Benban Solar Park has a total installed capacity of 1.65 gigawatts (GW). It’s one of the largest solar installations in the world and a major pillar of Egypt’s renewable-energy strategy.
Eco-challenges remain big, but the momentum is growing. In true Egyptian style, progress arrives with a mix of determination, improvisation, and just enough humor to survive the heat.
As a new political order struggles to assert itself in the autocratic states of the Middle East novel challenges – and possibilities – emerge. In looking toward the future, social Greens throughout the region would do well to coordinate an agenda geared toward a sustainable tomorrow.
Istanbul – a major hub for train travel across the Middle East Survey results published this week reveal that the majority of international travelers would prefer to take trains instead of aeroplanes, if they had the opportunity. The poll of 300 consumers, conducted for train technology company Silverrail, showed that 79% would choose trains over […]
A bombing attempt of the natural gas line that runs between Egypt, Israel and Jordan was averted today, according to the Associated Press. In Sinai, six gunmen targeted the natural gas pipeline that carries natural gas from Egypt to Israel and to Jordan. They overpowered a guard and planted a bomb, and then fled. Failing […]
If bike riding or jogging in Tel Aviv, the sea front is less polluting Ever wonder why you feel dizzy or have acute shortage of breath when engaging in moderate outdoor exercise like bike riding or jogging in cities where air pollution is higher than normal – especially in heavily polluted Middle Eastern cities like […]
Souvenirs of the recent revolution are already on sale in Tahrir Square In recent weeks, Green Prophet has reported on concerns for MENA regional eco-tourism after visitor numbers slumped over concerns about safety, and on worries that the conflict in Libya could damage the country’s stunning historical remains. But plans to promote Middle East and […]
Checking for radiation in Japan. Wouldn’t happen if a solar power plant is damaged. Japan’s situation involving its damaged nuclear reactors is heading into “critical mass” following more reactor failures from last week’s mega earthquake and subsequent tsunami tidal waves. Worries about this kind nightmarish scenario happening elsewhere, especially in the Middle East has been […]
The Ahmad Family in Egypt shows us what they eat. As popular uprisings continue to spread in Middle East, rising food costs for stable crops like rice and wheat cannot be ignored as underlying factors in the political unrest. In a region where Islam and anti-Westernism are usually blamed for driving populist politics, the impact […]
Do women in Cairo have bigger carbon footprints because they are afraid to ride their bikes? Transportation is a large contributor to air-pollution. Today, the whole world is shifting towards more sustainable means of transportation. While in most countries men and women are equally active in such a movement, in more traditional societies, women are […]
Before the 25th of January no more than 150 cyclists could pedal together without attracting police authorities’ attention. In Cairo, Inji El Abd from Cycling for Change, talks about a revolution for bikes. Che Guevara had his motorcycle and they had their bicycles: Revolutionaries on wheels went from all corners of Cairo to Tahrir Square to demand […]
A bad end to the Egyptian crises could mean an end to natural gas exports to Israel As if the ongoing, and increasingly violent wave of anti-Egyptian President Husni Mubarak protests aren’t enough to cause worries about regional energy cooperation, a takeover by Muslim extremists in Egypt could spell an end to natural gas supplies […]
Climate change, peak oil and too many mouths to feed topples the first of the world’s now fragile economies. Egypt is just the first nation to see the instability predicted as a result of climate change, peak oil and the unsustainable numbers of people on this planet. But this is where we are all headed, […]
It started with cotton and oil: the Middle East oppressed now seek freedom and a future. image via AP The autocratic rule now being challenged in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East has its roots in the state system that developed in the region during the twentieth century. This system is based on […]
After seven days of demonstrations rubbish and dirty water have collected in the roads which the Egyptian people are not leaving for outsiders to clear up - watch how and why Egyptian men and women are creating waves of social revolution, one piece of rubbish at a time.
Sparked be energy shortage, and Egypt in so much turmoil, what will happen to solar energy projects like this one? Many of us are following the recent turn of events in Egypt, in which the people have decided that it’s now time for some “changes” in the Land of the Nile. While the political ramifications […]
Will it smell? Can I save money? And will it create fertilizer? Flushing our waste down the toilet is not the ideal way of utilising our precious and very limited water sources here in the Middle East. Moreover, the pollution that we are causing to our rivers and seas is becoming an increasing concern. Like […]