SHARON UDASIN, LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI 11/26/2014 A bill to eliminate the distribution of free plastic bags in supermarkets is unlikely to advance in its current form, MK Miri Regev (Likud) announced on Wednesday. “The important proposal seeks to change consumption habits and our behavior, thus reducing the environmental impact caused by the use of a lot […]

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The municipality and residents of Sidon celebrated the long-awaited removal of the city’s notorious mountain of garbage Monday, in a high-profile event attended by prominent politicians and international officials alike. The idea of transforming the dump into a modern landfill and, eventually, a public park has been much anticipated by locals; after more than 40 […]

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Interior Ministry panel recommends adding half a million tons to annual quota; health minister objects because of pollution fears. By Zafrir Rinat | Nov. 24, 2014 A panel of experts commissioned by the Interior Ministry has recommended earmarking large areas in the Arad Valley for phosphate mining, including an area where both local residents and […]

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Editor’s note: highly recommended. About half of the articles below are available on line at http://www.pij.org/current.php?id=82 Thematic articles: Natural Resources and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Environment, Society and Security: Interrelated Challenges in the Middle East by Erzsebet Rozsa Israel’s Obligations Concerning Natural Resources According to the International Law by Nida Kamhawi-Bitar Israeli Gas Exports as a […]

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BEIRUT: Lebanon is facing an environmental emergency which is being compounded by the presence of over one million Syrian refugees, Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk said Sunday. “We are living in a state of environmental emergency… because of the Syrian refugees who have exceeded 1.5 million over the past years,” Machnouk said at the Conference for […]

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Ghinwa Obeid| The Daily Star BEIRUT: There was a time when Lebanon was well-known for its green spaces, but over time, high-rises have taken the place of gardens at an alarming rate, according to the Agriculture Ministry, which launched a project Monday to reverse the disappearance of the country’s forests. The ministry announced its revival […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 11/11/2014 “The seashore is a resource that should be sustainable even in the winter,” Zandberg said. More coordination among authorities and access to government weather forecasts are critical to maintaining cleaner beaches in the winter season, Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg said on Tuesday. Zandberg, who chairs the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee’s […]

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Not every environmentalist sees GM as Satan incarnate. Prof. Pat Heslop-Harrison of the University of Leicester says modern agrotechnology can help feed the world. By Zafrir Rinat | Nov. 14, 2014 Supplying food to a growing population without destroying the world’s ecological systems is one of humanity’s great challenges. Israel is helping deal with this […]

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BEIRUT: A long stretch of stock-still cars crowding the streets is not just a pain for the driver, Lebanon’s notorious traffic jams are also having a detrimental effect on the environment, experts said Thursday. “The average increase in the number of vehicles has surpassed 6 percent, which is also accompanied with an increase in gasoline […]

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But the cake goes to New Delhi, which boasts a small-particulate count of 580 micrograms per cubic meter of air today. By Ruth Schuster | Nov. 11, 2014 | Tel Aviv’s air is four times filthier than Beijing’s this morning, according to a Chinese organization called Air Quality Index, which monitors smog levels in cities […]

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By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH 11/09/2014 Expert says study stresses the need to reduce the amount of air pollution to minimize morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Tel Aviv traffic. Pollution from vehicles — and not only from factories — triggers the develpment of cardiovascular diseases, according to new research conducted at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center that […]

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Odeh Al-Meshan 10/11/2014 The Badia is part of the Arab regions (defined as the semi-arid region of Jordan) and constitutes a significant part of Jordan and includes vast hyper-arid areas. As a result, the Badia has been defined based on aridity indices and is classified as a land for communal pastoral use (rangeland). It is […]

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by Mohammad Ghazal | Nov 05, 2014 AMMAN — The government will sign a memorandum of understanding within a week for the production of up to 40,000 barrels per day of oil from oil shale, Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed said Wednesday. The Cabinet approved signing the memorandum with Al Qamar for Energy & Infrastructure Ltd., […]

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Lebanon is hosting 37% of Syrian refugees. By the end of 2014, it is estimated that their number will reach 1.8 million, increasing solid wastes by 11%, water consumption by 12%, and wastewater by 14%, according to a report by the Lebanese ministry of environment. http://www.afedmag.com/english/more-details.aspx?id=1 To read the full articles of the last three […]

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Approximately 40 to 60 percent of the region’s waste water is discharged into the sea when it could be stored and reused for other purposes, according to ARCADIS’ 2014 Middle East Aquifer Recharge report. “The region should use treated sewage effluent (TSE) as the precious resource it is and stop thinking of it as waste […]

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06 November 2014 In a step towards mechanizing the collection and disposal of solid waste, the Director of UNRWA Operations in Jordan, Roger Davies, has launched seven mini-compactors in Marka and Zarka camps. This pilot initiative aims at improving waste management in both camps, where it is currently conducted manually by sanitation laborers using wheelbarrows […]

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Like his predecessors, Amir Peretz, who resigned yesterday, could not stand up to more powerful ministries and did not galvanize the public around a critical issue. By Zafrir Rinat | Nov. 10, 2014 Ten different ministers for environmental protection in two decades is a gloomy record, indicating that ministers serve for two years on average. […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 11/09/2014 Up until recently, about 40,000 Beduin community members in the region – which spreads from Beersheba to Arad –have lived without trash cans and proper waste disposal systems. Marking the first time that the state is funding waste collection from the country’s Beduin villages, Environmental Protection Ministry officials will inaugurate a […]

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Cities say cumbersome and inefficient bureaucracy to blame. By Zafrir Rinat | Nov. 10, 2014 Although garbage recycling is taking hold in more and more communities, many local authorities and waste industry professionals are complaining about the cost and bureaucracy involved, and are demanding that cities be allowed to run these operations, rather than the […]

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Mariam Al Jaajaa 10/11/2014 The Million Tree Campaign (MTC) is a grassroots movement for food security designed to bolster Palestinian farmers’ ties to their land through large scale tree planting. The campaign is a program of the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN), a non-profit organization established in 2003 to strengthen the capacity […]

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