Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who is the president of the COP18 got a thorough telling off for courting big oil executives in the lead up to the climate talks

The annual UN climate talks are coming the Middle East for the first time ever. As such, climate change and environmental issues are hitting the local headlines much more than usual and a tangible sense of excitement and anticipation is building in the region. To guide you through this tangled two-week conference and help you cut through the spin, we will be providing weekly COP18 updates. We’ve already published an article exploring the major issue which will be discussed at the talks – the Kyoto Protocol – and Does Vandousselaere has published a great guide to Egypt’s COP18 position. More after the jump!

COP18 President (Still) Courting Oil Executives
Days before the UN Climate Conference is due start (26 November to December 7, 2012), Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah who is its president, spoke at an ‘Oil and Money’ event in London and presented the petroleum executive of the year award – an award he himself had received in 2007. Avaaz, the campaigning organisation, was understandably not very pleased. They wrote:

“As the official conference president, Attiyah should be working tirelessly behind the scenes to shore up a successful outcome of the negotiations, not presenting awards to the top brass of the oil industry. One of the key jobs of a conference president is to act as a neutral broker, someone who can help countries work together towards a climate saving deal. Attiyah’s industry experience makes him uniquely positioned to find common ground at the upcoming talks, but his decision to speak at this week’s Oil & Money conference puts his reputation – and the climate talks – at risk. He needs to change course before it’s too late.”

Arab Women’s Role in Energy and Climate Change Highlighted
Last week, an event exploring the topic “Arab women leading the way in energy and climate change” was jointly hosted by the Directorate of Energy and Climate Change at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ‘Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice’ and Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company. Mary Robinson said: “Women’s contributions – political, economic, social and environmental – are central to tackling the global challenges we face today. Women can play an important role in bringing about positive societal transformations.”

“COP 18 provides an important opportunity for the region to show leadership on climate change. There is renewed hope that next month in Qatar, countries can agree to act together to take positive action on climate change and embrace a new model of development, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions, builds resilience to climate change and delivers sustainable development for all,” Robinson added.

Qatari Students Get Climate Change Training
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) has announced it will train a team of eight top Qatari students to cover the upcoming climate change talks in Doha. IISD’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin is the world’s leading publication on international environment and sustainable development negotiations. According to a press release, the training will begin just prior to COP18 and give the students an opportunity to shadow IISD’s report writers at a live conference and gain hands-on writing experience.

The students will then receive a certificate on completion of the assignment, which will involve publishing a daily English language report during the conference. “Working with young people to further the goals for sustainable development is one of the most important investments we can make,” said IISD chair Dan Gagnier. “I am confident that we not only provide an opportunity for young people to make a contribution to sustainable development but that in this exchange we can learn from their willingness to question our terms of reference.”

For more on the COP18 see:
Egypt’s Position for COP18 Explained
Will The Kyoto Protocol Survive Qatar 2012?
Message to Qatar From Arab Youth – ‘Take the Lead on Climate Change!’
Lifesaving Sahara Forest Project to Start with COP18 in Qatar
Can Qatar Balance Its Interests and Host a Successful Climate Summit?

Image of Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah via Omar Torres / AFP.

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The newly formed Arab Youth Climate Movement held a successful ‘Day Of Action’ which called on the Arab world to take the lead at the upcoming climate negotiations

On Saturday, members of the Arab Youth Climate Movement united in a day of action aimed at encouraging the Arab world to take the lead on climate change. Ahead of the upcoming global climate change conference which will be hosted in Qatar later this month, the campaigners also called on Qatar to lead the region into a more sustainable future.

Activities and events were held in more than 13 Arab countries from Algeria, Morocco, Bahrain to Mauritania, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. These included theatre and dance performances, lectures, talks, protests, marches as well as activities with young children highlighting the issues surrounding climate change.

In a joint statement, the group said that the science tells us if we don’t start reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming five to eight years, we will not be able to avoid catastrophic climate change impacts that could lead to the collapse of human civilization.

“Unfortunately, the Arab countries have so far been the only region that is ignoring the threat of climate change,” they explained. “The issue is not high on the political agenda, and the public is unaware of the threat to future generations. Therefore, the Arab Youth Climate Movement has been established to raise the urgency around climate change, and push Arab leaders to fulfil their responsibilities towards future generations.”

They regional group also called on Arab governments, especially Qatar, to put forward emission reduction pledges to the international community and demonstrate leadership. There is more to the Arab world than oil, the AYCM added, and so the issue of climate change must be put on the top of the political agenda and dramatic action taken.

The latest UN climate change conference, COP18, will be held in the Middle East for the first time. Although Qatar is keen to make the most of the talks and promote its diplomatic role (and natural gas), there are concerns that the talks could end in failure.

As Brian Nitz explained in his article on the Kyoto Protocol, the talks could well mark the end of the Protocol which saw 191 countries (excluding the US) agree to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent from a 1990 baseline.

The Kyoto Protocol agreement expires at the end of the year and if countries don’t decide on the length of the extension to it and their carbon budgets, it could well mark the end of this important agreement.

For more on the Qatar climate conference COP18 see:

Will the Kyoto Protocol Survive Qatar 2012?

Over Polluted Qatar Hosts UN Climate Conference

Egyptian Campaigner: ‘Corruption Not Climate Awareness Is Holding Us Back’

Can Qatar Balance Its Oil Interests & Host A Successful Climate Summit?

:: All images via AYCM Flickr and Facebook accounts.

The post Message to Qatar From Arab Youth – ‘Take The Lead On Climate Change!’ appeared first on Green Prophet.

A community project in Qatar explores local folktales and what they can teach us about nature in the Middle East

Whilst every corner of the world has a strong storytelling tradition, the Middle East is blessed with its own unique strand of folktales exploring nature. Water scarcity, rain and drought feature heavily due to the hot and arid climes of the region. A new community education/outreach project with the Qatar Heritage and Identity Center has partnered folklorists, scholars, and storytellers with local Qatari youth to encourage oral storytelling, and also help train them to collect and document this heritage.

One Qatari folktale has already been transformed into an animated film called ‘Rain’, which will be screened at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival this November.

“Our film ‘Rain’ is based on an oral folktale called ‘Amtir Ya Matar,’ which is about a traveler stranded in the desert and rescued by a tribe of Bedouins who then offer him hospitality while he recovers,” explains Autumn Eve Watts who is one of the organisers of the initiative.

“However, discovering that the traveler’s name is Matar [which means rain in Arabic], they beg him to bring rain to their drought-parched land. Matar repeatedly tries to explain to them that only God do this, but the misunderstanding persists. He eventually turns to prayer for help, and Allah answers his prayer by bringing rain to the land. The moral lesson of the folktale involves miscommunication, and the mistaken belief that man can control all aspects of the natural world.”

Indeed at the heart of many Qatari folktales are the limitedness of man in the face of nature – something which the modern world could do with remembering. We can’t conquer nature and be its master. Our lives and future survival is based on caring for the environment and allowing it to remain in equilibrium so that we can live our lives in comfort and peace.

One of the mentors of the folktale project is Dr. Kaltham Al-Ghanem, a Qatari anthropologist who has done a lot of research on culture and the environment and has a forthcoming book on this subject. ‘Rain’ along with other Qatari folktales will be published in a book in their original dialect as well as in English.

Autumn Eve Watts, who is the screenwriter of the ‘Rain’ film, also remarked that the group was meeting with the COP18 UN Global Climate Change Conference organizers to plan a cultural program for the conference that would involve Qatari storytellers sharing tales related to heritage and environment. So, I guess we can expect to hear more from them in the future!

:: Qatari Folktales Facebook page

For more on culture and the environment see:

Lebanon’s Trash Theatre and the True Cost of Rubbish (INTERVIEW)

Recycle Art Workshops @Darb1718

Ask Ali: The UAE’s Very Own Hipster Environment Show

The post Rain and Qatari folktales of nature in film appeared first on Green Prophet.

Qatar says Israel’s environment minister Gilad Erdan can come with his security detail. But Israel doesn’t believe Qatar. For an Israeli politician in an Arab land going it alone could mean suicide, opening him up to a range of possibilities including assassination and kidnapping.

The event held in Doha, Qatar, is organized by the United Nations and should accept representation from any UN member state. According to Qatari officials they have no problem allowing Erdan’s security to join him. But last time an Israeli government official was in Qatar (Uzi Landau, Israel’s Minister of Water for an IRENA water event in 2010), his security detail was not admitted to the country at the last minute.

Israel’s version of the CIA, the Shin Bet, says that Israel can’t participate in the Qatar Climate Summit in November until Qatar resolves its security policy. Israel is currently appealing to the United Nations in order to resolve the issue.

According to Israel National News, “The Prime Minister’s Office, speaking on behalf of the Shin Bet, said that the matter was still under review and that there still was not an “absolute” decision to prevent Erdan from attending the conference.”

It’s disgraceful how even seemingly benign issues like the environment and climate change get tangled in political stand-offs.

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