By advancing Israel’s development and production of energy in a safe and responsible manner, the Israeli government will stimulate economic growth. The conflict in Gaza is estimated to have cost Israel’s economy nearly $3 billion in damaged property, diminished manufacturing, loss of tourism, and a drop in consumer spending. And while Israel’s economy has fared […]

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The pilot site inside the Green Line will produce the oil, which involves heating to 350 degrees Centigrade the layer of rock containing the shale 200-300 meters underground. By Zafrir Rinat | Sep. 2, 2014 The plan to produce oil from shale in the Judean lowlands is missing important information about the environmental impact of […]

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Overseeing committee says exploratory drilling would not involve any fracking, production of oil that is not in liquid form. Adam Teva V’Din (Israel Union for Environmental Defense) and a group of Golan Heights residents submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice on Monday morning, demanding the repeal of exploratory oil drilling plans for […]

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Jerusalem District Committee for Planning and Building to reconvene to determine program’s future. At long last and after many delays, the fate of the Shfela basin oil shale pilot drilling project will likely be decided next Tuesday, when the Jerusalem District Committee for Planning and Building reconvenes to determine the program’s future. The project in […]

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Connecting the internal systems of the factories to gas is expected to lead to halve their energy costs and reduce air pollution. Aiming to reduce costs to industry as well as curb pollution, the Economy Ministry and the National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Ministry are allocating NIS 4.8 million in grants to 16 factories for […]

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By JAMES BACCHUS 01/09/2014 21:32 Israel has yet to become participant in new World Trade Organization negotiations on green goods. Given Israel’s geography and climate, Israelis have long understood that the economic future cannot be separated from the environmental future. Informed and inspired by this understanding, Israeli businesses have long been among the leaders worldwide […]

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Activists, Palestinian residents claim construction was part of a broader attempt to deepen settlers’ hold in natural area. By Zafrir Rinat | Sep. 2, 2014 The Civil Administration and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority have stopped illegal construction that began recently on a road that passes through a West Bank nature reserve. The construction […]

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BEIRUT: Warning of the negative impact of quarries on Lebanon’s mountains, Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk said Wednesday that a new ministerial committee would be drafting a plan to regulate the sector. “When it comes to the issue of protecting mountains and scenery, the Environment Ministry put forward a proposal to draft the master plan, which […]

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Mohammed Zaatari| The Daily Star JADRA, Lebanon: Towns in the Iqlim al-Kharroub region north of Sidon have accused truck drivers of dumping waste and debris along roadsides, and the mayor of Jadra has described it as a recurring problem. “We have come here to raise our voices against truck drivers that are transporting waste and […]

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for information and registration: click here. Heinrich Böll Foundation, represented through its offices in Ramallah, Beirut, Tunis, and Rabat in cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature / Regional Office for West Asia (IUCN ROWA), will be hosting a regional Autumn School “Natural Resource Rights in the Arab Middle East and North Africa” […]

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Reuters, Dubai Tuesday, 19 August 2014 The Mosul Dam was always meant to be a symbol of Iraq’s grandiose ambition to escape poverty and underdevelopment. But from the start, the $1.5 billion barrier north of the city was beset with significant engineering problems, now made worse after it became the center of a battle between […]

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21 August 2014 With no solution in sight for an end to the current conflict, UNRWA is doing what it can to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza. Since 13 July, internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been sheltering in UNRWA schools. The Agency continues to prioritize the health and safety of the displaced, including […]

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19/08/2014 GAZA CITY (AFP) — Feriel al-Zaaneen hasn’t had a shower in more than a month. Like thousands of Palestinians, she doesn’t have enough water to wash, adding to the miseries of life in war-battered Gaza. In searing summer heat, where temperatures can reach 93 Fahrenheit, Feriel is one of more than 218,000 refugees sheltering […]

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Lebanese campaign to save water amid a shortage is unlikely to work without government regulation, experts say. Sophie Cousins Last updated: 24 Aug 2014 Beirut, Lebanon – Plastered across billboards, flashing across television screens, and splashed on pamphlets and stickers, a new message is suddenly everywhere you look in Lebanon: “If you love me, save […]

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Mohammed Zaatari| The Daily Star BISRI, Lebanon: Residents have cautiously welcomed the signing of a loan agreement paving the way for the construction of a water dam in the Jezzine town of Bisri, as the project, first proposed a decade ago, makes headway. The agreement to secure the loan was formalized earlier this month between […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 08/24/2014 By integrating drip and micro irrigation technologies within the world’s rice paddies, farmers can simultaneously contribution to the international struggle against greenhouse gas emissions and increase their crop yields, according to Israeli irrigation giant Netafim. In conjunction with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Netafim has long been studying rice crops in […]

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A public project in Lebanon’s southern city of Tyre is not only giving pedestrians the right of way, but letting them rule the road once a week with car-free evenings called “Mashe Lanemshe,” meaning Come on, let’s walk. Every Saturday evening from 6 p.m. to midnight, a strip along Tyre’s coast from the Islamic University […]

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BEIRUT: Civil Defense fire brigades, assisted by municipality workers and residents, are struggling to extinguish a fire that broke out in the vicinity of millennia-old cedar trees in Maaser al-Chouf, southeast of Beirut, Thursday. According to a Civil Defense spokesperson, the fire started in a pine forest between Maaser al-Chouf and the adjacent village of […]

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Mazin Sidahmed| The Daily Star Al-MARJ, Lebanon: “Put the safety on until the gun is in the right position,” Khaled Saleh tells his niece Dareen Saleh as she positions her Maxim, a wide 12mm automatic rifle made in Turkey, just below her collar bone. She heeds his advice as she takes aim at a plastic […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 08/20/2014 In attempt to curb illegal waste dumping throughout the capital, the Jerusalem Municipality is soon to be training officers how to be more vigilant in enforcing against such activity. A pilot course on the subject, which would initially train 25 environmental agents in the city’s waste disposal enforcement department, is to […]

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