Environment and Climate in the Middle East

news, conferences, policy discussions and academic publications on environmental issues and climate change in the Eastern Mediterranean

Environment and Climate in the Middle East

Archives for May, 2013

Date palms across Israel fall prey to beetle infestation – Haaretz / Jerusalem Post

HAARETZ Infested city palm trees at risk of falling, thus posing danger to pedestrians; Israel’s agriculture minister calls for public awareness. By Zafrir Rinat | May.22, 2013 Date palms in cities throughout Israel have fallen prey to a beetle that eats away at the tree trunk and could cause them to fall over this summer, […]

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Israel-based firm Eco Wave Power expands to China – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 05/19/2013 01:14 Local green energy firm adds business in the far east in a move blessed by Netanyahu at the signing ceremony. Israel-based Eco Wave Power, that works on harnessing energy from ocean waves on- and near-shore, officially expanded operations to China last week in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Binyamin […]

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‘Red-Dead project stakeholders to decide on next move in June’ – Jordan Times

Final drafts of meta-study to be ready by end of this month — source by Hana Namrouqa | May 19, 2013 | 21:11 Updated: May 19, 2013 AMMAN — Final drafts of the meta-study on the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Programme will be ready by the end of this month, a source at […]

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Solar field set for Ben-Gurion’s Negev kibbutz – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 05/22/2013 04:51 A 5- megawatt field will be installed on 9 hectares at Kibbutz Sde Boker, former home to David Ben-Gurion. The Negev Desert will soon become a little bit brighter with the announcement of two future solar fields, one of which will be built in David Ben-Gurion’s former neighborhood. Shari Arison’s […]

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Shalom: Zemach Committee protocols to be published – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 05/24/2013 04:23 Gas export recommendations released to public; Peretz: “The export of 40% of our natural gas does not meet the real needs of the citizens.” Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom announced on Thursday that he has decided to publish, in the near future, all of the protocols of the Zemach […]

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AFED announces annual conference in Sharjah in October – AFED

Beirut/Oxford, 21 May 2013 The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) announced, at the conclusion of a consultation meeting it held in Oxford, UK, that its annual conference for 2013 will be held in Sharjah, UAE, on 28-29 October. The conference will be held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Sultan Al-Qasimi, Ruler of […]

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Change in Behaviour is Possible in Palestine – This Week in Palestine

By the Environmental Education Centre All people have the right to live in a clean and green environment. At present, the environmental situation in Palestine is quite grim, due to a combination of factors. Some things are out of the control of the Palestinian people, as restrictions from the Occupation have inhibited our ability to […]

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Agriculture minister to introduce new citrus tree – Daily Star

BEIRUT: Caretaker Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan announced Sunday a comprehensive plan to introduce a new kind of citrus tree in a bid to improve productivity. During a gathering with farmers in Tyre, Hajj Hasan acknowledged that “citrus production suffers from immense negligence in addition to numerous other problems.” He added: “In the long run, […]

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Governorate cleans up Horsh Beirut pine forest – Daily Star

BEIRUT: The Governorate of Beirut held a campaign Sunday to clean up the city’s last pine tree forest, Horsh Beirut. Nassif Qalosh, the acting governor of Beirut, participated in the campaign alongside members of the city’s municipal council and heads of the fire department and the municipal police. Qalosh said the aim of the campaign […]

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The Pulitzer Prize winning operation run out of an apartment in Tel Aviv – Haaretz

An investigative report on a mysterious oil spill made the environmental website InsideClimate News the smallest media outlet ever to win the prestigious journalism award By Omer Shubert May.23, 2013 The first time all seven staff members of InsideClimate News will meet will be at the end of this month, in New York. The meeting […]

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For first time, Israel’s Water Authority to pump Kinneret water into Jordan River – Haaretz / Jerusalem Post

HAARETZ The plan is intended to ecologically rehabilitate the neglected river. By Zafrir Rinat | May.17, 2013 The Israel Water Authority will shortly begin, for the first time, to pump water regularly from Lake Kinneret into the southern Jordan River in an effort to ecologically rehabilitate the river, the authority announced Thursday. During the first […]

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‘Climate change may reduce water availability, damage agriculture in Jordan’ – Jordan Times

by Hana Namrouqa | May 14, 2013 AMMAN — Climate change scenarios indicate that Jordan and the Middle East could suffer from reduced agricultural productivity and water availability among other negative impacts, according to an official report issued on Tuesday. Prepared by the Ministry of Environment in cooperation with the National Energy Research Centre and […]

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Settlers, Palestinians together against waste dump – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN, TOVAH LAZAROFF The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel says the dump is environmentally problematic. Trash issues have trumped the conflict, as settlers and Palestinians band together to protest a new German funded landfill near a nature reserve in Area C of the West Bank. The Society for the Protection […]

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The Promised City – Al Jazeera

A new West Bank eco-town is tempting some Palestinians with promises of a dream city, but it is not without its critics. Witness Last Modified: 16 May 2013 High on a hill in the West Bank, between Ramallah and Nablus, an extraordinary Palestinian city is being built: Rawabi – meaning hills. It will be the […]

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Arab and ultra-Orthodox towns to get less space for parks under new guidelines – Haaretz

The guide was prepared ‘out of sensitivity to and an examination of the needs and usage of communities with different needs, demands and patterns of behavior,’ says housing ministry spokesperson. By Chaim Levinson | May.17, 2013 The Housing Ministry has quietly devised new guidelines under which Arab and Haredi ‏(ultra-Orthodox‏) towns should be planned with […]

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Less than 5% of Jordan’s solid waste is recycled — experts – Jordan Times

by Hana Namrouqa | May 16, 2013 | 23:15 Updated: May 16, 2013 | 23:15 AMMAN — With less than 5 per cent of Jordan’s solid waste being recycled, environment experts on Wednesday called for setting up a national waste management plan to reduce trash and encourage recycling. Around 2.13 million tonnes of waste, and […]

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Environment Ministry struggles to manage resources – Daily Star

May 16, 2013 BEIRUT: The creeping destruction of Lebanon’s natural resources is costing the country many millions of dollars, the Environment Ministry said Wednesday at an international conference, which addressed the environmental management of coastal areas and air quality issues in the Arab and Mediterranean regions. “Lebanon suffers from environmental degradation that costs the country […]

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Gas presence found in new Karish reservoir – Jerusalem Post

SHARON UDASIN Delek Group reports signs of significant gas presence from the Karish 1 well; Energy Minister Shalom praises announcement. A new and potentially robust “shark” may be floating in the Mediterranean’s eastern waters. A significant gas presence on Wednesday evening was reported from the Karish 1 well (shark in English), located about 75 kilometers […]

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Lebanon has 30 trillion cubic feet of offshore gas – Al Arabiya

Friday, 10 May 2013 AFP, Beirut – Preliminary surveys of Lebanese offshore fields show reserves of 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 660 million barrels of oil, Lebanon’s energy minister said on Thursday, adding that production could begin within four years. Speaking at the Arab Economic Forum, Gebrane Bassil said scanning was now […]

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Morocco launches solar mega-project near desert city – Al Arabiya

AFP, Rabat – Morocco on Friday officially launched the construction of a 160-megawatt solar power plant near the desert city of Ouarzazate, the first in a series of vast solar projects planned in the country. The largest of its kind in the world, according to Mustapha Bakkoury, the head of Morocco’s solar energy agency MASEN, […]

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