EcoPeace International Advisory Committee Member Presents at the Vatican Rabbi Frank Dabba Smith, a member of EcoPeace’s International Advisory Committee (IAC), recently represented EcoPeace Middle East at the March 7-9, 2019, Vatican conference in Rome on “Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals: Listening to the cry of the earth and of the poor.” Rabbi Dabba […]

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AMMAN — Iraq on Thursday announced the completion of the technical preparations of the extension of the Iraqi oil pipeline, to run through the Kingdom with a capacity of 1 million barrels per day. Iraqi Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban voiced his country’s hope that 1 million barrels would be exported per day through the Basra-Aqaba […]

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AMMAN — Acting secretary general of the Ministry of Environment Issa Shboul on Tuesday inaugurated the regional workshop on black carbon emissions and its impact on health and climate change, according to an Environment Ministry statement sent to The Jordan Times. Black carbon is considered as one of the short-term climate pollutants that come as […]

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Experts say parks play role in reducing population’s stress, combating mild depression By Abdul Rahman Bazian – Apr 01,2019 AMMAN — There are currently some 4.32 million people residing in Amman, of which 1.32 million are 18 years of age or younger, head of the Population Statistics Division Ahmad Momani has recently said. “Urban parks […]

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Iran Orders Evacuation of Flood-Hit Western Cities by Naharnet Newsdesk Iranian authorities on Monday ordered the immediate evacuation of flood-stricken cities in a western province as rivers burst their banks, dams overflowed and vast areas were cut off from communication. The highest level of alert was declared in Lorestan province with four or five cities […]

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[editor’s note: fanack.com in general is a useful resource on the Middle East, unusual in the extent to which it covers water, pollution and other environmental issues] March 4th, 2019 These past few years, climate change has impacted Jordan with a rise of temperatures that has decreased the water resources, while sudden heavy rainfalls have […]

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Rising waters means more time to prepare for drier winters anticipated down the line Zafrir Rinat | Apr. 3, 2019 | 12:07 PM The level of Lake Kinneret has risen by 2.80 meters (9.1 feet) this past winter, its highest annual increase in five years. Officials anticipate the water levels will keep rising by 0.5 […]

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223 plastic-burning sites have been found in Palestinian villages and Israeli settlements, but such industries’ importance in the West Bank economy make it difficult to find a solution Zafrir Rinat | Mar. 22, 2019 | 6:32 AM Black smoke accompanied by the suffocating stench of burning plastic has become the norm on the Lachish hills […]

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Geoforum Volume 98, January 2019, Pages 36-45 Abstract Initial, and still dominant, explanations of transboundary e-waste flows have relied on the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH), which theorizes that pollution intensive economic activities will relocate to jurisdictions with the most relaxed environmental regulations. This hypothesis has influenced the parameters of the BAN Amendment to the Basel […]

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RAMALLAH, Thursday, March 21, 2019 (WAFA) – More than 97% of the water pumped from the coastal aquifer in Gaza Strip does not meet the water quality standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), leading to the depletion of groundwater reserves with the groundwater level in the coastal aquifer reaching 19 meters below sea level, […]

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The Water Authority approved the move, even though the Environmental Protection Ministry and environmentalists argue it causes harm to flora and fauna near streams Zafrir Rinat | Mar. 25, 2019 Israel’s rainy winter has created a surplus of treated wastewater that cannot be stored and which is being released into streams, putting the streams’ rehabilitation […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Mar 25,2019 AMMAN — For the first time ever, four of the country’s main dams overflowed simultaneously on Monday, according to officials at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. The Mujib Dam, established in Karak Governorate in 2003 with a capacity of 29.8 million cubic metres (mcm), reached its maximum capacity […]

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Mar 25,2019 Children and youth all over the world have been increasingly speaking out and engaging around the critical issue of climate change. It has be an impressive show of leadership on an issue that will significantly shape their lives in the future. In Jordan, the second-most water-scarce country in the world, continued and scaled-up […]

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Al-Masry Al-Youm March 23, 2019 Director of the Center for Environment and Development of the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) Khaled Abu-Zeid, stated on Friday that around 63 million people in the Arab world are deprived of clean drinking water and that 79 million lack safe sanitation services. He explained that a water situation report […]

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Planned projects will lead to more pollution and earthquakes – and defeat plans to end the use of fossil fuels by 2013, says environmental watchdog Zafrir Rinat | Mar. 24, 2019 | 9:39 PM The Environmental Protection Ministry has called to completely halt all new plans to produce oil in Israel in order to reduce […]

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25/3/2019 Renewables could generate 100 per cent of the UAE’s power needs within 50 years, if the investment and will is there, according to the outgoing head of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Adnan Amin, director general of the Abu Dhabi organisation, made the prediction in a wide-ranging interview with The National as the 60-year-old […]

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NAJIB SAAB 13/3/2019 Environment action urgent, stop being complacent Stop being complacent, show some urgency, and get real about implementing the goals you set in 2015 for achieving sustainable development. This unvarnished message is what Jock Martin of the European Environment Agency thought should be conveyed to world leaders, based on the findings of the […]

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The level of the Sea of Galilee, which has suffered from years of drought, has risen about 2 meters so far this rainy season Zafrir Rinat | Mar. 10, 2019 Following a five-year drought, particularly in the north, rainfall this year has topped multi-year averages in most of the country, improving the state of Israel’s […]

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Official says most recent overflow not expected to affect farms downstream By Hana Namrouqa – Mar 17,2019 AMMAN — For the first time since its construction over four decades ago, the King Talal Dam in Jerash overflowed thrice during the same wet season, according to a government official, who said that the Kingdom received “excellent” […]

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Jordan, Canada sign Jordan Valley JD1.5m renewable energy project deal By JT – Mar 11,2019 AMMAN — The government will compensate Jordan Valley farmers who were affected by the release of the King Talal Dam’s waters, after it reached full capacity due to the recent rains, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said on Monday. Razzaz met […]

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