Plans to build a Red Sea bridge connecting Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been revived but there are some serious environmental concerns More than two decades after it was first planned, Egypt and Saudi Arabia may be about to start work on a land and sea bridge connecting the two countries. The proposed bridge would […]
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not particularly known for its commitment to conservation of the environment. Instead, being the world’s largest producer of petroleum products it faces a number of related dilemmas. From oil spills to decline in sensitive marine habitats, to plain old oil pollution, the kingdom has its feet firmly grounded as […]
Once the region’s climate skeptic, Saudi Arabia is slowly shifting towards a more progressive stance ahead of the climate summit in Qatar It’s not long now till the climate summit follow up to Durban, is held in Qatar later this year. And in response to the eyes that will be soon focusing on the Middle […]
Jason deCaires Taylor uses eco art to conserve a fragile ecosystem See a starfish caress a schoolgirl’s cheek as she holds hands with the boy with the algae beard. Watch a baby shark swirl‘round that Beetle parked curbside to coral and lobsters. Underwater, everything’s magnified. Changing currents and depths cause kaleidoscopic effects. Dive in next […]
In the wake of a 6-day trip by China’s Premier Win Jiabao to Saudi Arabia, China and Saudi Arabia have forged an alliance on developing nuclear power. Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with China for assistance in the development of nuclear power, using the last of its oil wealth to invest in the most […]
Lebanon goes green with seed bank, but can this memory keeper for nature fight GMOs? Lebanon harbors over 2600 plant species of which 119 are counted to be endemic. The unique climatic and landscape diversity in Lebanon has shaped 22 bio-climatic zones which fosters one of the most precious ecological services: genetic diversity. Unfortunately, the […]
To the great shock and horror of a local journalist, recycled Israeli pencils are discovered for sale on the shelves of a popular store in Saudi Arabia. A journalist from the Saudi paper Jazan was shocked to discover pencils brandishing an Israeli logo on the shelves of his local Abu Rialin store. Made from recycled […]
The Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHR) in Saudi Arabia recently broke ground, which bodes well for the future of the Kingdom’s environmental/energy footprint. Phase II of Saudi Arabia’s 276 mile Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHR) is now underway. The Kingdom is getting 35 swanky new trains and 4 stations designed by Foster + Partners […]
Arabic is the fastest growing language on microblogging site Twitter, with a 2000 % increase in Arabic postings logged over the past 12 months. This week Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) announced a $300 million investment in social media site, Twitter. This isn’t radical corporate evolution: apparently the shares were […]
The Saudis got the CDM funding for carbon capture they have long demanded: how will it work? In the biggest turn-around since Kyoto was signed by the developed world – other than the US – now the big emitters, (besides America), are five developing countries, who were omitted from being bound by Kyoto, because back […]
Funds for mitigation projects and the Carbon Development Mechanism saved in “Hail Mary pass” at climate talks While many environmentalists are decrying the COP17 climate talks (# COP17FAIL: Climate Change is a One-Size-Fits-All Problem) as being imperfect, I see some real progress hidden in all that bureaucratese. For MENA (Middle East and North Africa) nations, the best […]
Imagine a rapidly growing tourist paradise, but set in the path of a "freeway" line of oil tankers constantly moving through the Gulf region, shipping out a third of the world's oil, polluting the coastline, and you can begin to imagine the scope of the problem assessed by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health in Toronto.
From holy water to holy traffic to holy trash, millions of Muslim pilgrims in Makkah take a spiritual experience with them and leave truckloads of pollution behind.
Praying in a Tokyo church could expose you to radiation levels higher than Chernobyl dead zones. In the same manner that Japanese authorities failed to prevent the Japanese nuclear disaster earlier this year, the authorities are dealing with radiation fallout –– in Tokyo. They are not telling the whole story. Locals armed with their own […]
Jeddah's beaches have notoriously been used as a local sewage dump. But almost a thousand patriotic students swept the corniche clean for Saudi Arabia's National Day to stand by keeping the country litter-free.