Volume 17, No.171, June 2012 CONTENTS 4 Rio environmental carnival (editorial by Najib Saab) 8 Ten sectors to green the global economy corporate and personal tips 20 Green economy in Rio+20 (cover story) 30 Arab ecological footprint atlas AFED report 2012 32 District S, a green neighborhood in downtown Beirut 40 Feynan ecological lodge in […]

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For several years, three navy commandos have been battling to be recognized as disabled veterans after they came down with Parkinson’s disease. By Zafrir Rinat | Jun.06, 2012 The Defense Ministry has accepted three navy commandos’ claim of having taken ill in the line of duty after they developed Parkinson’s disease in the wake of […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 06/04/2012 05:37 Eilat’s southern shores have already reached their capacity for project development, Dr. Jacob Dafni argues. Building a new hotel and commercial center complex along Eilat’s Almog Beach would cause irreversible harm to the area’s coral reefs, an expert marine biologist in the region said. “The Eilat coral reef is a […]

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June 06, 2012 01:18 AM By Stephen Dockery BEIRUT: Activists, government officials and business leaders drew attention to threatening local and global environmental problems caused by urban development Tuesday on World Environment Day, which saw the start of conferences on sustainability and green businesses. Several days of exhibitions and conferences kicked off at the BIEL […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | Jun 05,2012 | 23:10 AMMAN — Poorly designed policies and a lack of master planning are contributing to environmental pollution and waste of natural resources, incurring costs to the economy as well, an environment expert said on Tuesday. Speaking at the 6th Jordanian Environment Conference, Bahjat Odwan, president of the Jordanian […]

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RAMALLAH, June 4, 2012 (WAFA) – Around 66% of households in the Palestinian Territory had solar energy heaters in July of 2011 compared to 66.7% in July 2010, Monday said a press release by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on the eve of World Environment Day (WED) on June 5th. The theme of […]

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Israelis and Palestinians make very different movies about water Nine jointly made films show the eyes of beholders can see very different things. By Nirit Anderman | Jun.03, 2012 After 30 years in America, Kareem Hamid went back to his roots. He and his wife returned to the small, luscious green meadow fed by a […]

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May 31, 2012 01:16 AM The Daily Star ATHENS: A leading energy consultant called on Middle East countries and the European Union to increase investments in green energy and alternative energy. Roudi Baroudi, who was one of the key speakers at the 2012 Mediterranean Oil and Gas Conference in Athens, told participants that the time […]

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by JT | Jun 03,2012 | 23:02 AMMAN — The government has started applying a set of energy-saving measures to address inflation in the energy bill which stood at JD4 billion last year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Revenues originated by these measures will constitute 26 per cent of the Kingdom’s energy bill which […]

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Government appoints Eyal Rosner as head of national initiative to reduce dependency on oil. Minister Landau: Natural gas fuels are on way Calcalist Published: 06.02.12 The government approved Sunday the appointment of Eyal Rosner as director of a national initiative to develop technologies that reduce the global use of oil in transportation. Prime Minister Benjamin […]

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May 31, 2012 01:28 AM The Daily Star KOURA, Lebanon: Despite rain earlier in the week, the summer fire season was off to an early start with three fires reported Wednesday. One fire erupted at 8 a.m. in an abandoned plot of land facing the Saint Joseph University campus in the village of Ras Masqa […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 06/01/2012 06:01 Environmentalist group calls on Erdan to make declaration, forcing cities in Haifa Bay region to take action. Representatives of the Green Movement demanded, in a letter sent to Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan on Thursday morning, that he immediately declare the Haifa Bay region as an area afflicted with air […]

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Al Salam Canal project was planned to be the main artery for development in the Sinai Peninsula, representing Egypt’s strategic extension and historical link to its Arab neighbors. Met with obstacles, the project was halted, but steps are currently being taken toward its revival. The project, first launched in 1997 under Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, […]

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If you discern a giant crystal lake looming in the horizon of Sharm el-Sheikh’s sizzling desert, don’t think it is a mirage — it is indeed the world’s largest crystal lagoon, officially recognized last month by Guinness World Records. Designed by the renowned Chilean architect Fernando Fischmann and still under construction, the 12-hectare Sharm el-Sheikh […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 06/01/2012 06:43 Service station will be an economic stimulus for the region, providing 800 jobs, Interior Ministry says. A large plot of arid desert land in the country’s Arava region will soon become a service and dismantling hub to about 500 aircraft. The Committee for Principal Planning under the Interior Ministry’s National […]

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By ARIEH O’SULLIVAN / THE MEDIA LINE 05/31/2012 16:58 European oil giants dumping stocks below costs could prove catastrophic. ‘ The price for olive oil has dropped to its lowest level in a decade and farmers in the Middle East are bearing the brunt as Spain and Italy dump their government-subsidized stocks at below cost. […]

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The first meeting of the Gouv’Airnance project (Governance of air quality in Mediterranean cities), funded under the Cross Border Cooperation in the Mediterranean (CBCMed) programme, took place in Tripoli, Lebanon on 17, 18 and 19 April 2012. The event kicked off a series of concrete exchanges of information as to the current state of both […]

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AFED is jointly organizing, together with the League of Arab States and ESCWA, a round table at the Rio+20 conference on the subject of Food Security. The event is scheduled on 19 June, 15:30 – 17:00 pm, in room P3-F at the conference venue RioCentro . AFED’s Secretary General Najib Saab will present the latest […]

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Palestinian Authority said to be vying for recognition by United Nations’ environmental body; will motion for ‘observer state’ status during June’s Rio+20 meet Ynetnews Published: 05.29.12 The United Nations’ environmental summit in Rio in mid June will undoubtedly discuss various urgent issues, such as global warming, carbon emissions and the growing need to find viable […]

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resolution by Hana Namrouqa | May 30,2012 | 23:23 AMMAN — The Hima global initiative was launched on Wednesday to promote sustainable livelihoods, resource conservation and environmental protection for human well-being. Hima, which stands for Human Integrated Management Approach and also means “protected area” in Arabic, is a community-based natural resources management system that seeks […]

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