AMMAN (JT) – The government of Japan will extend a JD16.6 million grant ($23,500,000) to Jordan under its “Grant Aid for Environment and Climate Change” programme, a Japanese embassy statement said Monday. Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Jafar Hassan and Japan’s ambassador to Jordan Junichi Kosuge are scheduled to sign the agreement for the […]

Read the rest of this entry »

June 14, 2011 02:07 AM By Daniel Estrin EIN BOKEK, Israel: The Dead Sea is dying, goes the conventional wisdom: The water level of the fabled salty lake is dropping nearly 1.2 meters a year. Less well known: Part of the lake is actually overflowing, threatening one of Israel’s key tourism destinations.Israel is feverishly campaigning […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 06/17/2011 06:35 Mikve Yair will be the first among the city’s 36 ritual baths to be piloting a special recycled- water system. Talkbacks (1) Women using one northern Jerusalem mivke might now be reentering the same waters that they had enjoyed the month before. Mikve Yair, in the northern Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Environment and Climate in the Middle East received several postings from SafeMed, an EU project. The cover letter and contact information is in this posting. Postings for Lebanon, Jordan and Israel follow. ========== I am writing to you from the Mediterranean island of Malta where SafeMed, a project funded by the European Union is based. As the […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Lebanon: Government takes step toward maritime safety [Daily Star] March 31, 2011 by Simona Sikimic BEIRUT: Lebanon has taken an important first step to bring its shipping fleet in line with international standards on pollution and safety, two maritime experts have told The Daily Star. Jonathan Pace and Albert Bergonzo, project officers at Regional Marine […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Jordan: The SafeMed Project: A review of the benefits for Aqaba, Jordan Source: http://www.jordanoholic.com/blog/news/aqaba-jordan-safemed-benefits Jordan is one of the Beneficiaries of the European Union funded SafeMed Project being implemented in the Mediterranean region by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC), based in Malta, on behalf of the International Maritime […]

Read the rest of this entry »

SAFEMED ISRAEL Israel: “Israel building up its capabilities well for VIMSAS audit” says SafeMed Officer Israel is gearing up well for an eventual Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme (VIMSAS) audit later on this year. Through VIMSAS, the State will be in a better position to ensure maritime safety and pollution prevention. VIMSAS creates a basis to […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Environmental NGOs on Monday warned that continuing with plans to establish a military academy in Bergesh forest may harm Jordan’s international reputation and status. Being a signatory to international agreements for the protection of biological diversity, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention to Combat […]

Read the rest of this entry »

June 07, 2011 01:48 AM By Patrick Galey The Daily Star BEIRUT: The United Nations has ushered in its World Environment Day with a stark warning that the continued degradation of the region’s forests could have a disastrous affect on Arab economies. Environmental campaigners added that Lebanon, as one of the greenest Middle Eastern states, […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 06/07/2011 04:13 Jordanian newspaper reports water shortages in Jordan Valley prompt expected purchase this summer. Talkbacks (13) Jordan is expected to buy 10 million cubic meters of additional water from Israel’s Lake Kinneret supply this summer due to water shortages in the Jordan Valley, Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab al-Yawm reported an unidentified Jordanian […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 06/07/2011 05:53 Knesset c’tee approves bill on regulation of water separation systems, collection, reuse of drain water to optimize usage. Talkbacks (3) The Knesset Internal Affairs and Environmental Committee approved a bill Monday morning that would require public institutions to use recycled, or gray water, a committee spokesman announced that afternoon. The […]

Read the rest of this entry »

If an enemy missile succeeded in hitting a nuclear power station here, it could lead to a major dispersal of radiation and the exposure of large populations. By Hillel Shuval In this era of growing concern with global warming and the search for clean energy sources, many countries, including Israel, have given renewed consideration to […]

Read the rest of this entry »

June 09, 2011 02:13 AM By Van Meguerditchian The Daily Star BEIRUT: A new bridge leading to Sin al-Fil from the Nahr al-Mott area prompted officials from the Council for Development and Reconstruction Wednesday to hold a news conference to defend the project as an improvement in the traffic situation. Project manager Elie Helou said […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Many families who don’t earn enough to cover their monthly expenses are forced to buy a car only so they can get to work on time, and the high price of gasoline affects them seriously. It’s a failure that costs billions of shekels a year: in endless traffic jams, wasted fuel, accidents, frayed nerves and […]

Read the rest of this entry »

As a small Middle Eastern country with no oil of its own, Israel’s long-held dream of energy independence has been just that, a dream. And as for the Palestinians, not having a state of their own has also put energy independence out of reach. But one thing Israel and the Palestinian territories do have in […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Arava Power’s 4.95 megawatt solar power plant at Kibbutz Keturah is the first of about 50 photovoltaic power fields to be built throughout the southern Negev desert by the end of 2014. By David Sheen and Reuters Israel’s Arava Power unveiled the country’s first commercial solar power plant on Sunday, showing it off to government […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – An environment expert on Sunday urged the Ministry of Environment to launch a grass-roots initiative that encourages Jordanians to benefit from Jordan’s abundant solar power. President of the Energy Conservation and Sustainable Environment Society Ayoub Abu Dayyeh proposed that the ministry support install solar panels for households to reduce Jordan’s […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By Laila Azzeh AMMAN – If the total fertility rate (TFR) remains unchanged, Jordan’s population will double in about 30 years, placing more pressure on the environment, food, water, housing, health, education and employment services, experts say. The current fertility rate is the same it has been since 2002, standing at an average of 3.8 […]

Read the rest of this entry »

BEIRUT: Around 200 people celebrated World Environment Day Saturday with a picnic on green grass – in Beirut’s concrete Sassine Square. “Green the Grey” was organized by the Beirut Green Project. Dima Boulad, one of BGP’s founders, told The Daily Star that they put on the event “because we feel that [green spaces are] a […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – An international report has identified 12 sites in Jordan as globally Important Plant Areas (IPAs) which necessitate conservation programmes to safeguard their unique species. The Important Plant Areas of the South and East Mediterranean Region: Priority Sites for Conservation Report, which was released on Wednesday, identified more than 200 internationally […]

Read the rest of this entry »