Climate Change Impacts in the GCC

The GCC countries face multitude of climate change challenges including desertification, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and sea level rise. The region is characterized by high temperature, high humidity and arid lands resulting in seriously degraded soil and land damage in addition to salt intrusion in the aquifers affecting the small scale agricultural lands thus enhancing the food security threat in the region. All of the above geographical threats have therefore increased and activated the participation of GCC states in global negotiations recently as evidence are uncovered and impacts being felt across the region. If a couple of days of rain … Continue reading

البصمة البيئية لقطر

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

The Need for Sustainability Communication in the Middle East

Environmental and sustainability awareness has been around in the society for quite some time now; and buzzwords like ‘ecofriendly’, ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ seem to be omnipresent. In spite of the proliferation of these eco-buzzwords, the state of sustainability communications remains poor and lacking in authenticity. This poor state of sustainable communication, aided by insufficient focus on authenticity, further allows unscrupulous organizations to ‘green wash’ their business or products. The ‘greenwashing’, coupled with a lack of environmental knowledge on the consumer side engenders confused consumers who either despise any of the green eco-buzzwords or blindly accept green-washing as true sustainability. Currently, sustainability … Continue reading

إستراتيجيات الحفاظ على المياه في الشرق الأوسط

للتعامل مع تحديات إدارة المياه العذبة في الشرق الأوسط , لابد من إحداث توازن بين مخزون المياه الموجود و حجم الطلب . وهذا التوازن ممكن أن يحقق من خلال توظيف إستراتيجيات تزيد من كفاءة المياه و الحفاظ عليها . استراتيجيات حفظ المياه في الشرق الأوسط تتضمن التقليل قدر الإمكان من إستخدام المخزون المائي القابل للنقل , إيجاد مصادر مياه بديلة للإستعمالات المتعددة و زيادة كفاءة استخدام المياه من معدات و تجهيزات مناسبة . الإستراتيجيات الفعالة بالإضافة إلى مراقبة المياه التي تتعقب عملية استخدامها  و تحديد المشاكل , ممكن أن تخفض الإستهلاك الداخلي و الخارجي للمياه بشكل ملحوظ في الدول التي تعاني … Continue reading

The Paper Bag Boy of Abu Dhabi

Abdul Muqeet, also known as the Paper Bag Boy, has risen from being just another ordinary student to an extra-ordinary environmentalist, eco-hero and eco-warrior. At just ten years old, Abdul Muqeet has demonstrated his commitment to saving the environment in United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. Inspired by the 2010 campaign “UAE Free of Plastic Bags”, Abdul Muqeet, a student of Standard V at Abu Dhabi Indian School, applied his own initiative and imagination to create 100% recycled carry bags using paper waste. He then set out to distribute these bags in Abu Dhabi, replacing single-use plastic bags that take hundreds … Continue reading

Construction Wastes Management in the UAE

Out of total solid wastes generated in the UAE, the construction and demolition wastes or (C&D wastes) account for 70% of the total weight of solid wastes. Dubai alone produces nearly 5,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste every day, which is about 70% of the total solid waste generated every day. In Abu Dhabi, C&D wastes account for 71% of total wastes generated. It is expected that construction and development activities and associated C&D waste production will continue to rise in this region. Hence, if not managed appropriately, it is expected that dumping of C&D waste will become uncontrolled. … Continue reading

السياحة البيئية في سلطنة عُمان

السياحة والسفر والرحلات البرية والبحرية في العالم باتت ركيزة أساسية في كل مكان. وأصبحت محط أنظار الاقتصاديين في استغلال المكونات الطبيعية و التراثية الثقافية لرفع اقتصاد أي دولة في العالم. و تطورت السياحة في العالم الغربي بشكل كبير, و تزايدت اعداد السياح في العالم مما أدى إلى ظهور مكاتب مسؤولة عن السياحة في كل دولة لحساب عدد السياح من الجانب المحلي الإقليمي والدولي. و تطورت السياحة إلى حد كبير وتعددت أنواعها و مقاصدها؛ حيث وجدت السياحة الطبيعية، الرياضية، العلاجية، التعليمية، الثقافية الحضارية، الخضراء و المستدامة. وكل هذه الأنواع المختلفة من السياحة ضلت في ازدهار مستمر.  حتى ظهر مصطلح السياحة البيئية … Continue reading

Solar Energy in Qatar

Qatar’s solar energy future is steadily developing. With average daily sunshine of around 9.5 hours, low-cloud cover conditions and plentiful space, there is great scope for small, medium as well as large-scale solar power projects in the country. Qatar’s global horizontal irradiance is 2,140 kWh per m2 per year which makes it well-suited for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The country is geographically well-positioned to tap its tremendous solar energy potential and has set an ambitious target of 2 percent renewable energy contribution in the national energy mix by 2022. Solar energy has multiple advantages for Qatar in the form of energy … Continue reading

Dubai’s Journey Towards a Sustainable City

Only a decade ago, Dubai was considered one of the world’s worst polluters. The ecological footprint of this single city was huge, however, by 2050 it could be a sustainable city with the smallest ecological footprint of any city in the world. Why Sustainability Matters Over the last couple of decades, the need for a renewed focus on our global commitment has become obvious. We have started to see an unusually high rate of extreme weather events across the globe, events which many scientists are attributing to global warming. Time is running out to take decisive action on climate change. … Continue reading

Water Awareness in Qatar: A Survey

Qatar is one of the world’s most water-scarce countries in the world. But the continuous expansion of fossil fuel-led desalination technology and associated water infrastructure evaded the shortages and led to continuous access to safe and clean water to all the citizens and residents. In recent years, Qatar witnessed the growing household water consumption adding stress to the economy, infrastructure, and the environment. New measures were proposed to curb the demand through increasing water tariffs and recycling domestic wastewater for semi-productive use. However, these measures have not reduced the domestic consumption of water. Conserving water is one of the strategic … Continue reading

Agricultural Scenario in MENA

Agriculture plays an important role in the economies of most of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The contribution of the agricultural sector to the overall economy varies significantly among countries in the region, ranging from about 3.2 percent in Saudi Arabia to 13.4 percent in Egypt.  Large scale irrigation is expanding, enabling intensive production of high value cash and export crops, including fruits, vegetables, cereals, and sugar. Egypt Egypt is the 14th biggest rice producer in the world and the 8th biggest cotton producer in the world. Egypt produced about 5.67 million tons of rice and 635,000 tons … Continue reading

Sustainable Agriculture: Perspectives for Jordan Valley

Sustainable agriculture development is one of the most important pillars of the EcoPeace Middle East’s Jordan Valley Master Plan as it provides livelihood and prosperity for all the people in the valley. The strategic agricultural objective for the study area is improving water use and irrigation efficiencies and economic outputs per unit of water used, and meanwhile stabilize, or even reduce the total water demands for the agricultural sector in the Jordan Valley. This will require adequate tariff policies on water used for irrigation, including enforcement, to stimulate more efficient use of water through for instance greenhouse drip irrigation. These … Continue reading