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Environment and development AL-BIA WAL-TANMIA Leading Arabic Environment Magazine

February 2020 - 263
Editorial
Forum
NAJIB SAAB
Education on environment creates prosperity and stability
NAJIB SAAB
When discussing environmental changes and challenges, and their relation to sustainable development, the role of education cannot be underestimated
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PADDY PADMANATHAN
Ten Years of ACWA Power and Corporate Responsibility
PADDY PADMANATHAN
Since 2007 the Arab region has undergone a number of changes because of economic cycles
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Yihui Wang
AFED Synthesizes Decade of Arab State of the Environment Reports
Yihui Wang
The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) has published a report titled, ‘Arab Environment in 10 Years’, which
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Meet the
 Editor-in-Chief Najib Saab 		 
 
Selected articles News
Wastewater Treatment: Overview, Types, Energy Consumption & Actual State in Lebanon with Proposal of Using Renewable Energy 3/7/2019
This paper provides an overview of Wastewater Treatment issue in Lebanon, past, present, and Future. The paper briefs the status of wastewater types adopted in the general study approved by Lebanese Government to cover the country at the level of design and implementation along with the relevant energy consumption. Accordingly, we shall consider that paper as a recapitulation on exerted efforts by both Government and Council of Development and Reconstruction (CDR) to reach reliable and sustainable wastewater network and wastewater treatment plants. The perspective that we intend as a conclusion is the potential of renewable energy exploitation and treated wastewater reuse assisting the path of autonomy of WWTP’s and improvement of the energy management in wastewater treatment based on the integration of renewable energy and biogas. ...more
 
Climate change, conflict: Strategic risks for 2019 11/2/2019
Climate-fueled security risks will overwhelm the Middle East in 2019, while enmity and hostility rather than unity will characterize Europe; the U.S. will tumble in its war on terrorism, and an unsustainable future will daunt Russia. These are some of the global security challenges anticipated in a report entitled “Strategic Outlook 2019,” carrying the theme “Towards a Zero-Sum World ...more
 
Environmental Conservation in the UAE: An Authentic Cultural Heritage and Experience 8/1/2018
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has prioritized the conservation of the environment and natural resources, both being integral to its national heritage, almost since the establishment of the federation in 1971. The founding father of the UAE, late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, considered the environment and sustainable development to be cornerstones of the nation’s progress. ...more
 
PREVENTING DISEASE THROUGH HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT: ASSESSMENT OF THE BURDEN OF DISEASE FROM ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS IN ARAB COUNTRIES 1/6/2017
The realization of how many diseases and illnesses can be prevented by focusing on the management of environmental risks adds impetus to efforts to encourage preventive health measures through all available policies, strategies, interventions, technologies and knowledge. This is generally true to sustain development in most countries of the world, but is more significant in Arab countries where environmental risks are higher and rates of development slower. ...more
 
FactCheck: The facts on Trump's EPA nominee 15/12/2016
Scott Pruitt, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has made some questionable claims related to global warming, fracking and the Clean Power Plan. ...more
 
AFED Secretariat Annual Work Report 2016 10/11/2016
Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) is closing its most challenging year, in a region overwhelmed by security and economic turmoil. Although we continue to believe that, after all sorts of conflicts and wars, people will still need to preserve and develop their natural capital that they need for survival, AFED is being stripped of minimum resources to execute its mission ...more
 
Waste trade: exporting countries responsible to return refused waste. Interview with Rolph Payet. 2/3/2016
As part of its cover story about Waste trade, in the March-April 2016 issue, Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia magazine conducted this interview with Rolph Payet, executive secretary of the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. ...more
 
Strong climate deal good for Arab countries 4/12/2015
Climate change, once considered an issue for the future, has now moved firmly into the present. Few days before a new climate change deal is due to be agreed in Paris, the question is no longer whether there will be an agreement but what shape and how strong it will be. ...more
 
Sustainable consumption: AFED’s 2015 report and public opinion survey 19/11/2015
In 2009, an Arab Regional Strategy for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) was adopted by the League of Arab States. This was one of the first such regional strategies to be developed before the RIO+20 summit, which had adopted the 10 Year Framework of Programs (10YFP) on SCP. Consequently, the Arab Region moved forward and became the first region to develop and adopt a Roadmap for Implementation of the 10YFP on SCP at the regional level in June 2013. However, as is the case in most Arab regional strategies, both the roadmap and the SCP regional strategy are far from being implemented at the national levels. Development and implementation of SCP strategies in most Arab countries are still lagging. ...more
 
ACWA Power Develops 200 MW Solar PV Plant in Dubai: 5.84 Cents per kWh Sets New Global Pricing Benchmark 19/11/2015
In March 2015, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with a consortium of ACWA Power and TSK for a 200 MW net solar photo-voltaic (PV), under Phase II of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the Middle East’s largest renewable energy park. The bid tariff set a new global pricing benchmark for renewable energy generated from utility scale PV panels at USD 5.84 cents/kWh without subsidies. The second phase is based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model and is intended to be operational by April 2017. The project, which occupies 4.5 Km2, will help to achieve a reduction of 400,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. ...more
 
Impact of phasing out water subsidies in Tunisia and Morocco on consumption: a general equilibrium approach 19/11/2015
Morocco and Tunisia are considered among the countries where the scarcity of water resources may cause a serious constraint to the development of their economies. The agricultural sector is the most important consumer of water with more than 80% of the total. Moreover, both countries have shown an increase in the share of GDP accounted for by the nonfarm sectors, which imply an increase in residential water demand as well as manufacturing and service sectors. Consequently, if production growth in the non-farm sectors requires a proportional increase of water demand factor , then water can be a major constraint to economic growth in both countries. ...more
 
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CLIMATE-RESILIENT SEEDS AS A POSSIBLE RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE-INDUCED FOOD SHORTAGES 4/9/2015
Climate change is predicted to have dramatic impacts on agricultural production globally. Although food production in some regions of the world may benefit from increasing average temperatures, most of the world will face severe challenges in adapting agricultural systems to the predicted climatic changes. ...more
 
Food Security and Climate Change: the UAE Experience 15/5/2015
The Arab world faces critical challenges in ensuring its food security. Our region is already the world’s largest net importer of essentials such as cereals and sugar, low water supplies in the region mean that expanding agricultural production is difficult, and population growth means that more people must be fed each year. In many ways, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) presents an exemplary case of this challenge. ...more
 
The UNDP-CEDRO Program’s Solar Power Initiatives 5/3/2015
The CEDRO project, a UNDP executed program, has been established since 2007, originally through a generous grant from the Government of Spain, through the Lebanon Recovery Fund, of approximately $10 million. At that time, renewable energy at large, and solar power in specific (with the exception of residential solar hot water systems), have not yet begun to be well propagated and/established. ...more
 
Conflict, refugees and food insecurity in the Arab region 5/3/2015
Conflict has a direct and indirect effect on food security, undermining it through various channels. Its direct effects are numerous – the destruction of infrastructure and machinery; death of livestock; razing of farm land,; and blocked access to markets for producers, distributors, and consumers. Indirectly, conflict discourages productive investment in agriculture, thereby reducing the availability of food. It strips government of tax revenues that prevent the establishment of social safety nets which promote food security. ...more
 
Virtual Water Trade as a Policy Instrument Contributing to the Achievement of Food Security in the GCC Countries 5/3/2015
The concept of ‘virtual water’ has been introduced by Tony Allan in the early nineties (Allan, 1993; 1994). However, it took nearly a decade to get global recognition for the importance of the concept of achieving regional and global water security. The "virtual water" content of a product, as often defined, is the volume of water used to produce the product, measured at the place where the product was actually produced (i.e., a production site specific definition). ...more
 
Review of the likely impact of climate change on agriculture in selected Arab countries 5/3/2015
Climate change is expected to impact agriculture in the region in one way or another. Below is a short review of the anticipated impact of climate change on agricultural in selected Arab countries. ...more
 
How should we tackle natural conservation of Lebanon?: Japanese Ambassador `s observation 5/3/2015
The East Mediterranean, a cradle of the civilizations, is blessed with a diverse and plentiful nature. But this nature is endangered. Nowadays we can observe that the growth range of the Lebanese Cedars has diminished quite drastically. ...more
 
Developing Fish Resources in the Arab World 7/1/2015
The Arab World is rich with large fish resources providing health and cheap proteins to Arabs, compared to animal proteins from other resources. Since the Arab World suffers a shortage in grazing and animal feed resources, which limits the capability to expand meat production, it is very important to sustain the contribution of fish resources in providing animal proteins to the Arab food basket; actually, this sector must be developed to sustainably increase its contribution to the Arab food security system. ...more
 
Mexico ratifies rule requiring trucks, buses to run on cleaner diesel 21/2/2020
The Mexican government on Thursday ratified an environmental rule that requires truck and bus makers to manufacture and sell only vehicles running on clean diesel starting in January 2021, despite criticism from the industry. ...more
 
BMW expects to cut average emissions in Europe by 20% this year 21/2/2020
BMW will continue to grow sales globally while at the same time lowering its European average emissions of carbon dioxide by around 20% this year, Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter said on Thursday. ...more
 
UK watchdog to scrutinise how companies, auditors calculate climate risk 21/2/2020
Britain’s financial accounting watchdog plans to review how companies and auditors assess and report the impact of climate change on their businesses, as investors push for better disclosure of the risks. ...more
 
Fates of humans and insects intertwined, warn scientists 21/2/2020
The “fates of humans and insects are intertwined”, scientists have said, with the huge declines reported in some places only the “tip of the iceberg”. ...more
 
Australia's Great Barrier Reef shows signs of new coral bleaching 21/2/2020
The government agency tasked with monitoring the health of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has detected signs of heat stress in several coral regions, increasing the prospects of another major bleaching event. ...more
 
UAE takes first steps to create world’s largest artificial reef 20/2/2020
The UAE is to create the world’s largest artificial reef off the east coast of Fujairah. ...more
 
Conservation: Calls to protect species across borders 20/2/2020
New measures to protect the jaguar are being discussed this week at a wildlife summit held in India. ...more
 
Climate change: Fertiliser could be used to power ocean-going ships 20/2/2020
Ocean-going ships could be powered by ammonia within the decade as the shipping industry takes action to curb carbon emissions. ...more
 
Oil and gas firms 'have had far worse climate impact than thought' 20/2/2020
The oil and gas industry has had a far worse impact on the climate than previously believed, according to a study indicating that human emissions of fossil methane have been underestimated by up to 40%. ...more
 
IMF chief Georgieva urges G20 action on trade, climate, inequality 20/2/2020
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Wednesday said the most pressing uncertainty facing the global economy is the coronavirus outbreak in China but urged G20 finance ministers and central bankers to take action to reduce other risks linked to trade, climate change and inequality. ...more
 
Indonesia proposes to tax sweet drinks, polluting cars, plastic 19/2/2020
Indonesia’s finance minister proposed on Wednesday new duties on sweetened drinks, vehicles that emit carbon dioxide and plastic bags, to control consumption of the products in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. ...more
 
StanChart commits $75 billion toward sustainable development goals 19/2/2020
Standard Chartered on Tuesday said it will provide $75 billion in financing by 2024 toward sustainable development and clean energy projects, as it expands on its aspirations to support the Paris Agreement on climate change. ...more
 
EU targets textiles, batteries and packaging in plan to halve waste by 2030 19/2/2020
Recycling textiles, batteries and packaging will be the priority in a new plan to halve waste in the European Union by 2030, the head of the EU’s “Green Deal” said on Tuesday. ...more
 
Singapore aims to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 19/2/2020
Singapore aims to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, making a bigger bet on electric cars as part of its efforts to cut greenhouse gases and fight climate change, the finance minister said on Tuesday. ...more
 
Britain to invest 90 million stg to cut emissions from homes, industry 19/2/2020
Britain will invest 90 million pounds ($117 million) on measures to cut carbon dioxide emissions from homes and industry, including two hydrogen plants, the government said on Tuesday. ...more
 
Delivery disaster: the hidden environmental cost of your online shopping 19/2/2020
There’s still something magical about the idea of browsing a world of goods online, choosing what you want and having it delivered to your door, sometimes within hours. ...more
 
Al Ain water to produce plant-based compostable bottle 18/2/2020
A local water company will start selling a bottle made from plant-based materials to reduce the amount of plastic it produces. ...more
 
World leaders urged to 'step back from precipice' of ecological ruin 18/2/2020
Humanity’s ongoing destruction of nature threatens the survival of our species, a group of former foreign ministers has warned, calling on leaders to step back from “the precipice” of irreversible ecological ruin and protect the planet. ...more
 
Investors urge Japan to strengthen climate targets ahead of U.N. summit 18/2/2020
Investors managing $37 trillion in assets urged Japan to slash the country’s carbon emissions, saying on Monday that a strong signal from Tokyo could help galvanize international climate action ahead of a U.N. summit in Glasgow in November. ...more
 
Amazon's Bezos pledges $10 billion to climate change fight 18/2/2020
Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos will commit $10 billion to fund scientists, activists, nonprofits and other groups fighting to protect the environment and counter the effects of climate change, he said on Monday. ...more
 
January 2020 was the hottest January on record 18/2/2020
Citing 141 years of records, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has called last month the hottest January of all, to date. Meanwhile, the 10 warmest January temperatures all took place this century, since 2002, highlighting the accelerated climate crisis. ...more
 
AFED announces 2020 report on Arab Environment: Health and the Environment in Arab Countries 17/2/2020
The 2020 annual report of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) will discuss how healthy environment can enhance the quality of human health. ...more
 
Sustainability disclosures by European companies generally poor: study 17/2/2020
European corporate disclosures on climate change and other sustainability issues are generally poor, a study on Monday showed, as regional policymakers mull toughening up the rules. ...more
 
Climate change could make premiums unaffordable: QBE Insurance 17/2/2020
Australia’s QBE Insurance Group said on Monday climate change could make some premiums unaffordable, especially for customers exposed to extreme weather events, and was a “material risk” for its operations across the globe. ...more
 
UK to invest $1.6 billion in weather and climate supercomputer 17/2/2020
The British government will invest 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in what it says is the world’s most powerful supercomputer to provide more accurate weather and climate forecasts. ...more
 
Munich Re targets growing global energy weather hedges 17/2/2020
Munich Re is seeing growing demand for weather exposure protection from energy companies and their customers as they roll out more renewable energy installations, which are prone to fluctuations. ...more
 
 
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