The UfM-labelled project “Jordanian National Railway Project as Part of a Regional Railway Network”, will allow for the integration of the Jordanian railway system with the regional network. Source: Union for the Mediterranean Easy and safe mobility of flow of goods and people on land and sea is essential for maintaining peaceful relations and enhancing […]

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Between Ruin and Restoration: An Environmental History of Israel Edited by Daniel E. Orenstein, Alon Tal, & Char Miller, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013 http://www.upress.pitt.edu/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=36317 The environmental history of Israel is as intriguing and complex as the nation itself. Situated on a mere 8,630 square miles, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf, varying […]

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Poll by Society for Protection of Nature in Israel finds that majority of Israelis want new government to promote an environmental agenda Billie Frenkel Published: 01.22.13 A new survey by the Society for Protection of Nature in Israel found that an overwhelming majority of the public would like to see the new government promote an […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 01/20/2013 Labor, Tzipi Livni Party, Meretz slam PM for privatizing public land; 75% of Israelis say environmental issues essential to quality of life. As the country’s leading parties spar over two-state solutions and who must serve in the army, one issue that nearly all have declared crucial to the state’s survival is […]

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Environmental Protection Ministry commits to following UN protocol on air pollution; pledges to grant public access to transparent emissions data 01.25.13 Israel has joined the UN’s Kiev Protocol on air pollution, the Environmental Protection Ministry said. The Kiev Protocol, also known as the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR), was introduced and enacted […]

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Environmental Protection Ministry issues several bids with aim of turning neglected bodies of water into prized natural resource 01.23.13 The Environmental Protection Ministry has issued several bids for the rehabilitation of polluted rivers and streams across Israel, Ynet has learned. The ministry said that is has been able to secure NIS 8 million (roughly $2.14 […]

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Developers say they have lost NIS 100 million because they have been unable to start building a planned vacation village on the shore, after objections by environmentalists led to the government shelving the project. By Zafrir Rinat | Jan.20, 2013 The Planning and Building Law does not assure that an area with approved plans is […]

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Committee rejects objections to the plans submitted by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and Zalul, the Israeli environmental association. By Zafrir Rinat | Jan.15, 2013 The Tel Aviv District Planning Committee approved on Monday a plan to conduct experimental drilling in a search for oil some 19 kilometers off the coast […]

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With Tu Bishvat around the corner, a new immigrant from England is planning a tribute to her great-great-grandfather, who started the tradition of planting trees on Jewish Arbor Day. By Judy Maltz | Jan.24, 2013 The tradition of planting trees on Tu Bishvat, the Jewish equivalent of Arbor Day, was started back in 1890 by […]

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SHARON UDASIN 01/24/2013 Israel Natural Gas Lines (INGL) has completed construction of a marine liquefied natural gas receiving buoy, from which the flow of gas into Israel’s transmission lines is slated to begin on Friday. Energy officials at a launching ceremony on Thursday hailed the buoy as capable of relieving the country’s gas shortage until […]

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Israel’s main metropolitan area is way behind in public transportation compared to European cities, and traffic is expected to worsen significantly in the coming years. By Zafrir Rinat | Jan.24, 2013 Among the environmental crises to confront Israel in the coming years, the transportation crisis might be the worst. At a recent conference held by […]

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The plan, estimated to cost almost $10 billion, has raised concerns among environmentalists in both Jordan and Israel. By Zafrir Rinat | Jan.16, 2013 After almost a decade of arguments over the feasibility of a proposed pipeline between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, the World Bank released a series of reports over the […]

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Environmental Politics in Egypt: Activists, Experts, and the State (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics, 2012) http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415783002/ Based on extensive fieldwork from the late 1990s to 2011, the book shows how environmental experts and activists sought to influence state policies and corporate behavior.  The book analyzes donor-sponsored projects, popular campaigns, and public controversies to show […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 01/17/2013 Project connecting the two seas would be an environmental disaster, green activists warn. While there may be environmental and social impacts on the region, a trilateral plan to construct a 180-kilometer pipeline transporting water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea is feasible, a World Bank study has determined. After […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | Jan 17, 2013 | 21:43 AMMAN — Addressing environment pollution and poor waste management as well as applying better rainwater harvesting dominate the agendas of national tickets competing for next week’s parliamentary elections. Agendas of the national lists feature some of Jordan’s “key water and environment issues”, while local constituency candidates […]

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Environmental issues are being kept on the sidelines of election campaign, but green groups offer series of new measures that the new government can implement to make Israel more eco-friendly Billie Frenkel Published: 01.16.13 New green-growth indices, green taxation and eco-friendly job offers – these are just some of the measures Israel’s green groups plan […]

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By SHARON UDASIN, MICHAEL WILNER IN NEW YORK 01/17/2013 Israel commits to granting public access to transparent emissions data in acceding to protocol on air pollution release, monitoring. In a commitment to grant the public access to transparent emissions data, Israel acceded this week to a UN protocol on air pollution release and monitoring. The […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 01/17/2013 Fisherman to receive NIS 1 million for 2009 incident in which sewage pipe spilled into Or Yehuda, surroundings. Fishermen at Jaffa Port affected by a 2009 sewage spill will be receiving NIS 1 million in compensation for their work loss, the Tel Aviv District Court announced on Wednesday. The incident in […]

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January 14, 2013 02:01 AM By Mohammed Zaatari SIDON, Lebanon: Sidon’s infamous dump will finally be shut in mid-March, Future parliamentary bloc head Fouad Siniora said Sunday, as a waste treatment plant that he said will set an example for the country begins to function at full capacity. Touring the new waste treatment plant in […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 01/15/2013 Sewege giant to dredge Kishon riverbed, purify sediments to turn polluted waterway into oasis for northern residents. A Canadian sewage giant will be dredging the Kishon riverbed and purifying its sediments in an effort to turn Israel’s once most polluted waterway into an oasis for the country’s northern residents, government authorities […]

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