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 January, 2019

New book: The New Arab Urban: Gulf Cities of Wealth, Ambition, and Distress

Harvey Molotch NYU/UCSB and Davide Ponzini Politecnico di Milano, have published The New Arab Urban: Gulf Cities of Wealth, Ambition, and Distress (NYU Press, 2019). abstract: Thanks in part to their spectacle and authoritarian rule, cities of the Arabian Peninsula reveal contradictions of contemporary urbanization. When money is plentiful, regulation weak, and labor conditions severe, […]

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After oil: Mideast states developing renewable energy – YNET

Wind turbines, hydroelectricity and solar power are on the agenda in Morocco, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, but experts say region still lags far behind Europe and North America, despite growing investments The Media Line|Published: 01.17.19 The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Egypt are leading the charge in the Middle East to adopt […]

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Jordan ‘third best host of green energy projects worldwide’ – Jordan Times

Jan 22,2019 AMMAN — Jordan has ranked third as the best investment environment in the field of renewable energy, according to the Bloomberg’s Climatescope 2018 Index, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati said. The index announced Jordan, among 103 countries, taking the third slot after Chile and India, in attracting investments into its […]

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Ministry plans to funnel ‘Fils Al Reef’ fee into solar panels for underprivileged households – Jordan Times

Maram Kayed – Jan 24,2019 Now that 99.9 per cent of Jordanian households have electricity, the Energy Ministry announced that the “Fils Al Reef” fee will be channelled into installing solar panels for underprivileged families. According to Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Spokesperson Mashhour Abu Eid, Fils Al Reef, which is a fee added […]

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Solar start-up seeks to energize Gaza border economy – Jerusalem Post

By EYTAN HALON 12/29/2018 Utilight is bringing game-changing laser printing technology to Israel’s periphery. While hi-tech firms the world over look toward China as the ideal destination for locating their manufacturing facilities, one Israeli company is bucking the trend in spectacular fashion. Looking much closer to home, Yavne-based solar-cell printing technology start-up Utilight is planning […]

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Environmentalists protest against new gas rig – Jerusalem Post

By BEN BRESKY 01/25/2019 “We are in favor of the development of natural gas, but we are also in favor of our health,” MK Gabbay stated at the rally. Labor leader MK Avi Gabbay joined protesters in calling to remove gas rigs from Dor Beach near Haifa in Israel’s north. “There is no more just […]

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Egyptian gas supply to Jordan officially resumed – Jordan Times

Mohammad Ghazal – Jan 28,2019 AMMAN — Jordan has officially started receiving half of its daily needs of natural gas for electricity generation from Egypt, a government official said on Sunday. The Kingdom, which started receiving experimental quantities from Egypt in August last year, is currently receiving from Egypt some 165 million cubic feet of […]

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Lebanon Signs Oil Storage Deal with Rosneft – Naharnet

Lebanon has signed a deal with Russia’s largest oil company, Rosneft, to upgrade and operate storage installations in the country’s northern city of Tripoli. Caretaker Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil signed the deal on Friday, in the presence of Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin, and told reporters that Rosneft will manage storage operations. Abi […]

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Egypt to announce tariff for selling energy from waste within weeks: Report – Egypt Independent

January 21, 2019 Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmin Fouad announced that the government has prepared a tariff for the sale of energy from waste (EfW), in cooperation with the Electricity Ministry. All procedures are being finalized with the Finance Ministry and will be announced within weeks, the al-Borsa newspaper reported Fouad as saying. The minister said […]

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Egypt’s Ministerial delegation ends visit to Germany discussing waste management – Egypt Independent

January 26, 2019 An Egyptian ministerial delegation including Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Sharawy, Minister of Defense Mohammed al-Assar and Minister of Environment Yasmen Fouad returned to Cairo on Friday following a five-day visit to Germany seeking to obtain knowledge on the global technological systems of waste management. The delegation held meetings with Germany’s Minister […]

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Environmental Peacebuilding Newsletter, January 2019

note: The report mentioned below: 2019 Report: Climate Change, Water Security and National Security for Jordan, Palestine and Israel is available at ecopeaceme.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/climate-change-web.pdf EcoPeace’s Workshop on Water Security and Environmental Peacebuilding From the 10th to the 15th of December, EcoPeace Middle East hosted a first of its kind workshop on ‘Middle East Water Security and […]

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New threat from Gaza: Landfills and sewage build up along Israeli border – YNET

In addition to rocket fire and airborne incendiary devices, residents of Israeli communities bordering Gaza are now battling putrid smell of giant landfills and sewage from the strip’s northern neighborhoods that’s polluting Israel’s groundwater. Matan Tzuri|Published: 01.15.19 The residents of Israeli communities bordering Gaza, who for years have been dealing with Hamas rocket attacks and […]

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Promoting Biosaline Argriculture – Jordan Times

editor’s noteL The Jordan Times has been running a series of articles promoting biosaline agriculture – agriculture that requires less water and can tolerate high heat. They are grouped below. From law to biosaline agriculture, Turman challenges coventional farming techniques – Jordan Times By Reem Rawashdeh – Jan 03,2019 AMMAN — For Odeh Al Turman, […]

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Ghabawi landfill expected to generate 5MWh starting February – Jordan Times

Dec 29,2018 – AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) said on Saturday that the Ghabawi landfill will start generating 5 megawatts per hour (MWh) as of next February. The GAM is working on investing in using waste to produce electricity, Amman Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh said during an inspection of a recycling centre in east […]

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Forestation plan could change Israeli ecosystems, drive out endangered species – Haaretz

The JNF, Israel’s chief forestry body, intends to turn vast open Mediterranean landscapes into planted forests – this is a real threat to the future of some of the most important open spaces in the region Zafrir Rinat | Jan. 14, 2019 | 4:09 AM | 3 The landscapes of the eastern Mediterranean are an […]

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Jordan has invested JD40m in desalination projects over past 3 years’ – Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa – Jan 09,2019 AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has implemented desalination projects worth JD40 million which have generated 3,500 cubic metres of water per hour over the past three years, a senior government official said on Tuesday. The projects included the construction of new desalination plants and the rehabilitation […]

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Stakeholders hail temporary EV customs exemption, demand more – Jordan Times

By Ahmed Bani Mustafa – Jan 10,2019 AMMAN — Exempting electric vehicles (EVs) from customs is a positive measure, however, more is needed to “rescue” the trade, stakeholders said. After raising the tax on EVs from zero to 25 per cent, the government recently decided to exempt around 2,500 vehicles that were imported or bought […]

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Luxor launches campaign to plant 1 million trees – Egypt Independent

Luxor governorate has launched President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s campaign “Shabab fi Hob Misr” (Youth and Love in Egypt) on Wednesday to plant one million fruit trees as part of a plan to develop Luxor city. Head of Luxor City Ayman al-Sherif said that the campaign would plant the trees in al-Mattar district during the first […]

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Israeli Settlers Who Build in West Bank Nature Reserves Now Facing Trial – Haaretz

Sad fate of West Bank environment: Caught between illegal Palestinian hunters and illegal settlement expansionists Zafrir Rinat | Dec. 28, 2018 | 2:23 AM | 1 The trial of three West Bank settlers charged with opening a new road to the unauthorized outpost of Alonei Shiloh began this week. Part of the road passes through […]

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Visit Eilat’s Reef Before It’s Too Late: NYT’s Place to Go in 2019 Is Facing Destruction – Haaretz

Zafrir Rinat | Jan. 12, 2019 The many tourists visiting the resort town Eilat who sun themselves on the beaches and paddle in the Red Sea’s clear waters probably don’t think twice before anointing themselves with sunscreen. Most of them certainly don’t know that these lotions have an especially detrimental effect on one of the […]

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