Author Archives: Pratima Pandey

About Pratima Pandey

Pratima Pandey is a Sustainability Consultant with a varied academic background and professional experience comprising the overlapping domain of Economics, Agriculture and Environment. She has worked in Consultancy projects for international organisations like World Bank and UNCCD. Her specific areas of interest are waste management, sustainable land management, green hydrogen, renewable energy and climate change mitigation.

تدهور الأراضي في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا

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تعاني حوالي 15% من إجمالي الأراضي من التدهور على الصعيد العالمي، وتقترب هذه النسبة من 50% في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمالي افريقيا، وعلى العموم، فإن فقدان الإنتاجية الفيزيائية والبيولوجية والاقتصادية للأراضي هي نتيجة لعوامل بشرية بالإضافة للتصحر، حيث يصيب المناطق القاحلة وشبه القاحلة والجافة وكذلك شبه الرطبة تحديداً. يمثل تدهور الأراضي أزمة عالمية تتفاقم وتُقوّض الأمن الغذائي والتنوع البيولوجي والنظام البيئي، ويؤثر التدهور الناتج عن إزالة الغابات والزراعة غير المستدامة والرعي الجائر بالإضافة إلى تغير المناخ على أكثر من 3.2 مليار شخص حول العالم، وتتفاقم هذه المشكلة في المناطق ذات البيئات الضعيفة وموارد المياه المحدودة على وجه الخصوص، وهي ظروف … Continue reading →

Land Degradation in the MENA Region – Causes, Impact and Response

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Globally, around 15% of the total land is degraded. For The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, this number is close to 50%. Land degradation, in general, is the loss of physical, biological and economic productivity of land due to anthropogenic factors; desertification is its subset as it is relevant specifically to the arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas. Land degradation is a growing global crisis, undermining food security, biodiversity and the health of ecosystems. Driven by deforestation, unsustainable agriculture, overgrazing and climate change, it affects over 3.2 billion people worldwide. The problem is especially severe in regions with … Continue reading →

Plastic Waste Management in UAE

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Plastics are an inseparable part of modern society. However, their safe disposal is a big and highly challenging issue. A typical UAE resident uses 450 plastic water bottles on an average in a single year1. With the equivalent of 43 gallons on an average per person in 2011, the United Arab Emirates had the fourth-highest level of bottled water consumption in the world. A whopping 11 billion plastic bags are used annually, according to statistics from UAE’s Ministry of Environment and Water. This goes on to add up to an annual overall waste of 912.5 kilogram per capita2, 3, and 4. These … Continue reading →