Category Archives: Sustainable Development

Green Hydrogen in Jordan: Aqaba as an Investment Gateway

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Europe is changing how it produces and uses energy. To reduce pollution, it needs clean fuels, especially for factories, shipping, and heavy industries. Green hydrogen is one of these fuels. This shift is creating new investment opportunities, and Jordan—especially Aqaba—can be part of this growing market. For investors from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Jordan offers a stable and realistic place to invest in green hydrogen projects that can supply Europe. Many countries in the region want to export green hydrogen. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are developing very large projects, but these take time and require massive … Continue reading →

Sustainable Management of Desalination Brine: Best Practices, Pilot Studies, and Innovations

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The management of brine generated by desalination plants has become one of the key determinants of the environmental and economic sustainability of this technology, which is now strategic for global water security. The production of desalinated water has increased significantly over the past two decades, particularly in arid regions of the Middle East, North Africa, Australia, and certain coastal areas of Europe and North America. This growth has inevitably been accompanied by a proportional increase in brine volumes. Globally, desalination facilities are estimated to produce more than 140 million cubic meters of brine per day, exceeding the volume of freshwater … Continue reading →

Ramadan: A Time to Respond to the Earth’s State of Emergency

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This week marks the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan, a month which has been identified as a time to gain taqwa – God-consciousness. This month invites Muslims to attain nearness to Allah (SWT). يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ١٨٣ O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may attain taqwa, Qu’ran, 2:183 However, Ramadan is more than the individual forms of worship. Ramadan embodies a sense of community. A time of gathering in the mosque; of sharing … Continue reading →

How Urban Planners Can Contribute to Social Cohesion in Cities?

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While most of the implemented programmes that promote social cohesion are based on people’s ideology, perceptions, and social behaviours, the impact of the physical built environment, that hosts people’s lives and their social interactions, remains less tackled. In the context of urban planning, to what extent do our cities affect the advancement of social cohesion of communities? And could elusive and complex social concepts – like social cohesion – be tackled in a practical spatial planning approach that yields concrete actions? The fostering of social cohesion gained intensive focus in the literature of urban planning and sustainable development studies, especially … Continue reading →

Islamic and Sustainability: Perspectives

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The 21st century is characterized by a number of global environmental challenges that shaped and defined the discourse and agenda of the West with respect to the developing world, specifically the Islamic world. Islam provides new sustainability perspectives for discovering and explaining the root causes for the current environmental, economic and social crises as manifested in climate change, HIV, poverty and human security. For example, the Islamic perspective on climate change is that the root cause of this global issue is the absence or lack of human stewardship and is an indication of market failures. Pitfalls of the Western Model … Continue reading →

The Significance of Water in the Islamic Culture

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The great cultural bloom that took place during the al-Andalus period was made possible from a material and social viewpoint thanks, among other factors, to the judicious water management at those times. Countryside, cities, public bathhouses and fountains, qanats, mosques and gardens honoured the element of water. However, this water culture emerged from a distinctively Islamic conception which is briefly summarized in the following paragraphs. Water in the Holy Quran In Islam, life and knowledge originated from water, a divine gift that symbolises profound wisdom, the drink that quenches the soul’s thirst. But it is also science. Thus, the word al-ma’a – … Continue reading →

كاربونيفا: إعادة صياغة العمل المناخي من خلال الكربون، والطاقة والتكيف

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بالغالب عندما نقوم بمناقشة التغير المناخي، نقوم بمناقشة مجزأة، حيث نصوّر الطاقة كأداة للتخفيف من آثار هذا التغير وننظر للتكيف على أنه وسيلة للسيطرة على الأضرار الحاصلة، ونقوم باختزال الكربون لمقياس وحيد للانبعاثات. وبالرغم من ان هذه المقاربات ساهمت في تنظيم العمل المناخي عالمياً، إلا أنها تقف عاجزة أمام التسارع الذي يواجه العالم بآثار تغير المناخ ومخاطره وتحديات الموارد المرتبطة به. لا تنقصنا التكنولوجيا أو الطموح، بل التكامل. فالتغير المناخي ليس مجرد مشكلة طاقة، ولا انبعاثات فقط، بل هو تحدٍ لكيفية إدارة الكربون ويمتد هذا التحدي عبر أنظمة الطاقة والنظم البيئية وموارد المياه، والامن الغذائي، والمرونة الاجتماعية، وكذلك الاقتصادية. ولتتم … Continue reading →

5 Top Reasons To Embrace Sustainable Manufacturing

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What is sustainable manufacturing? Put simply, it defines processes that minimise a plant’s overall environmental impact. Once regarded as rather niche, sustainable practices are becoming widely adopted. Here are five reasons why embracing sustainable manufacturing is growing in popularity: 1. It can create a Unique Selling Point Climate change and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions continue to dominate the environmental agenda: sustainability is here to stay. Did you know that millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, makes up most of today’s workforce? They are also the generation that is most committed to implementing sustainable goals, according to Forbes … Continue reading →

Future Water Scenarios in the GCC Countries: Perspectives

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Water is an important vector in the socio-economic development and for supporting the ecosystem. In the arid to extremely arid Arabian Peninsula, home of the GCC countries, the importance and value of water is even more pronounced. The GCC countries of United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, are facing the most severe water shortages in the world.  Rainfall scarcity and variability coupled with high evaporation rates have characterized this part of the world with a limited availability of renewable water. However, the scarcity of renewable water resources is not the only distinctive characteristic of the region, … Continue reading →

CARBONEVA: Reframing Climate Action Through Carbon, Energy, and Adaptation

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Climate change is often discussed through fragmented lenses. Renewable energy is framed as a mitigation tool, adaptation is treated as damage control, and carbon is reduced to a single metric of emissions. While these approaches have helped structure global climate action, they increasingly fall short in a world facing accelerating climate impacts, systemic risks, and interconnected resource crises [1,2]. What is missing is not technology or ambition, but integration. Climate change is not only an energy problem, nor solely an emissions problem. It is a carbon management challenge that unfolds across energy systems, ecosystems, water resources, food security, and socio-economic … Continue reading →

Water Engineers: A Pillar for National Water Security in Water-Stressed Regions

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Water scarcity is now recognized as one of the most pressing global challenges of the 21st century. Climate change, population growth, urbanization, and industrial expansion have intensified pressure on already limited freshwater resources, particularly in water-stressed regions such as the Mediterranean and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) [1,2]. According to UNESCO, more than two-thirds of the global population experience water scarcity for at least one month per year, with projections indicating further deterioration under current climate scenarios [1]. Within this context, the role of the water engineer has fundamentally evolved. Beyond the design and operation of treatment plants … Continue reading →

بصمة خضراء… ثلاثية الخطر

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منذ الثورة الصناعية، اعتمد العالم بشكل شبه كامل على ما يُعرف بـ «الوقود الأحفوري» لتشغيل اقتصاده وبناء حضارته الحديثة. الفحم، النفط، والغاز الطبيعي كانت هي العمود الفقري للطاقة؛ منها انطلقت المصانع، وبها توسّعت المدن، وعلى ضوئها أُضيئت البيوت، وتحرّكت وسائل النقل، وتسارعت عجلة الإنتاج. هذه المصادر منحت الإنسان قدرة غير مسبوقة على السيطرة على محيطه وتسخير الطبيعة لخدمته، لكنها لم تكن يومًا مجانية الأثر. فخلف كل وحدة طاقة ننتجها من احتراق الوقود الأحفوري، هناك كلفة خفية لا تظهر في فواتير الكهرباء أو أسعار الوقود، بل تُدفع من رصيد البيئة والمناخ. هذه الكلفة تتمثل في كميات هائلة من الغازات التي تُطلق … Continue reading →