Author Archives: Sybrandus Adema

About Sybrandus Adema

Sybrandus Adema is a freelance journalist based in South Africa, where he now lives in a small village, trying to live more sustainably. He has worked in various other countries, including the Netherlands, UK and Qatar, producing articles for a variety of newspapers, magazines and online publications. In South Africa he was also the production editor of the largest daily newspaper, Daily Sun.

Food Waste Woes in Qatar

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Food waste is a huge issue in Qatar. In 2012, a massive 1.4 million metric tonnes of food was consumed and wasted in Qatar. This figure, divided by the then population of 2.05 million, equates to an average of 636 kilograms (kg) of food per person for the year, or 1.74 kg per day. Given the benchmark of two kg per person per day (preferably nutritious fare that does not contain too many kilojoules), that does not sound too excessive. But if you remove the young, elderly, short-term visitors/workers and people who consume less than two kg per day from the … Continue reading →

Understanding Qatar’s Ecological Footprint

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Qatar’s environmental impact remains worryingly high. The country’s per capita ecological footprint is now the second highest in the world, as another Gulf state, Kuwait, has overtaken it to become the worst offender of the 152 countries that were measured, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Living Planet Report 2014. The third country in the list is the UAE, with Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, in 33rd position. By comparing the total footprint with the planet’s biocapacity – its capacity to generate an ongoing supply of renewable resources and to absorb waste -the report, based on 2010 … Continue reading →

البصمة البيئية لقطر

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لا يزال الأثر البيئي لقطر مصدرا للقلق. وفقا ل“تقرير الكوكب الحي” 2014 الذي أعده الصندوق العالمي للحياة البرية (WWF)، فإن معدل البصمة البيئية للفرد في قطر هو الآن ثاني أعلى المعدلات في العالم، شأنها شأن دول خلجية أخرى، و تفوقت الكويت، لتصبح أسوأ “الجناة” من بين  ال 152 دولة التي تم قياس بصمتها البيئية. وتأتي دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة في المركز الثالث في القائمة، أما المملكة العربية السعودية، أكبر منتج للنفط في العالم، فتحتل المركز ال33. و بمقارنة البصمة الإجمالية مع القدرة البيولوجية للكوكب – قدرته على توليد إمدادات مستمرة من الموارد المتجددة واستيعاب النفايات – فقد خلص التقرير، استنادا … Continue reading →