The revolution has come, and it’s called shale gas. By Meirav Arlosoroff At least one group in Israel welcomed the revolution in Egypt with cheers: investors in the natural gas exploration companies. Upon learning that the status of Egyptian gas supplies had weakened, there was a stampede for stock in the Israeli companies. In their […]

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By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/16/2011 05:36 Originally, the Agriculture Ministry said two years would be required to save the lake’s fish populations. The Agriculture Ministry submitted regulations for approval on Tuesday which would prohibit fishing in Lake Kinneret from April 15 to August 15, 2011. Originally, the ministry said two years would be required to […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Newly appointed Environment Minister Taher Shakhshir on Monday outlined the ministry’s priorities for 2011, highlighting initiatives ranging from combating Jordan Valley flies to cleaning up the Zarqa River. During a meeting with the press yesterday, Shakhshir said the ministry will focus on four tracks this year: Zarqa Governorate’s environmental hotspots, […]

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The summary of the recommendations in the Strategic Foresight Report “Blue Peace” is available at www.strategicforesight.com/TheBluePeace-Summary%20of%20Rec.pdf Links to highlights of the report, in English and Arabic are available on the home page: http://www.strategicforesight.com/ for background to the project, see http://www.strategicforesight.com/middleeast_water_security.htm and http://www.strategicforesight.com/water_security_forum.htm See also their earlier work on costs of conflict in the Middle East […]

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Study: Water shortages to force Mideast cooperation Swiss FM urges Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestinians and Israel to work together on managing increasingly scarce water resources A report for the Swiss and Swedish governments warned on Thursday that water shortages in the Middle East were so alarming that opposing camps in the region would […]

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Rashed M.Y. Al-Sa’ed Birzeit University – Institute of Environmental and Water Studies; Birzeit University – Faculty of Engineering International Journal of Environmental Studies, Vol. 67, No. 6, pp. 937-954, 2010 Abstract: The annual discharges of municipal wastewater across the Green Line (the Israeli-Palestinian border) are causing a bi-national conflict with political, environmental, and economic dimensions. […]

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By Khetam Malkawi AMMAN – A lack of coordination among partners has caused the country to miss its health and demographic goals for 2010, according to the Higher Population Council (HPC). A lack of coordination and commitment are among the challenges facing the implementation of the country’s 2008-12 national reproductive health strategy, an HPC official […]

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Spanish company Gamesa has been selected as the preferred bidder for the contract to build Syria’s first wind farm. Gamesa is among six companies bidding to build the SYP 3.6bn (USD 78m) wind farm, which will be located south-west of Homs. It will add 50 MW to Syria’s electricity-generating capacity, which currently totals about 7,500 […]

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By AMIRAM BARKAT 02/12/2011 22:45 Bid to become a leader in renewable-energy technologies aims to help wean world off oil. ‘The global interest in Israel’s energy R&D and technology is out of all proportion to the size of the country,” says Dr. Eli Opper, a former chief scientist who is now the chairman of the […]

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AMMAN (JT) – An energy society will soon demonstrate ways to harness the heat of the sun to cool down homes, under an agreement signed on Sunday. The Jordanian Renewable Energy Society (JRES) and a Spanish firm have completed an agreement for the domestic adaptation of absorption solar cooling, a technology which JRES believes can […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Security concerns in the southern Mudawara area, the main location of the strategic Disi Water Conveyance Project, are holding back progress in the vital scheme, according to sources involved in the implementation of the project. They accused residents in the area of intimidating the workers, claiming that armed tribesmen “continue […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – After being delayed by security concerns, Disi Water Conveyance Project contractors are racing to meet its January 2013 deadline. Work on the mega-project, which entails the construction of a 325-kilometre pipeline to convey water from the ancient Disi aquifer in southern Jordan to Amman, is 40 per cent complete, according […]

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MERIA V14N4 (Dec. 2010), #2/7 [note: readers might also consult Joanna Depledge, “Striving for No: Saudi Arabia in the Climate Change Regime,” Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 8, No. 4 (November 2008), pp. 9-35. and Mari Luomi, “Bargaining in the Saudi Bazaar: Common Ground for a Post-2012 Climate Agreement?” Briefing Paper 48, The International Politics of […]

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Floods lessons to be discussed at civil protection workshop 10-02-2011 Forty experts in flood risk management from the Civil Protection Authorities and other ministries from, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Tunisia and Turkey will meet for three days to discuss the lessons learned from recent flood events in the region, be informed […]

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By GIL HOFFMAN 02/08/2011 09:25 Environmental Protection Minister says he remains committed to the environment, decreasing air pollution and building parks. Talkbacks (1) Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan ended months of speculation about whether he would accept an offer to become ambassador to the UN when he announced on Tuesday that he had decided to […]

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BEIRUT: Traffic and urbanization have led to Beirut exceeding global air pollution safety levels, but warm weather and weak winds also contribute to alarmingly poor air quality in the capital, new research has shown. The National Council for Scientific Research revealed this week its findings of a recent air quality study, emphasizing the high level […]

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By Mohammad Ghazal AMMAN – The Ministry of Environment on Tuesday announced the completion of a database listing the country’s chemical plants to help track and curb industrial pollution. Officials have developed a database categorising the 212 chemical plants located across the Kingdom, according to Adnan Zawahreh, head of the ministry’s inspection and enforcement directorate. […]

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New supergrid aimed at cutting dependency on gas from Middle East and Russia By Agence France Presse (AFP) Saturday, February 05, 2011 By Roddy Thomson Agence France Presse BRUSSELS: European leaders launched Friday a trillion-euro bid to slash dependency on Middle East oil and Russian gas, clearing the way to place nuclear power at the […]

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Neighbors opposed the plan, among other reasons, because they wanted to preserve five tall shisham trees planted some 60 years ago in the front of the building on Netzah Yisrael. By Ilan Lior The two developers who purchased a historical building in Tel Aviv three years ago could never have imagined how much trouble a […]

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