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

300 - March 2023
Editorial
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Najib Saab
Laws that regulate not obstruct
Najib Saab
Protecting the environment begins with the rational management of natural resources
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Mathis Wackernagel
Don't reduce your Footprint!
Mathis Wackernagel
This blog is dedicated to a young, brilliant student
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Meet the
 Editor-in-Chief Najib Saab 		 
 
Selected articles News
Stadium 974: What happens next to the first temporary World Cup stadium? 12/12/2022
The World Cup's first temporary stadium will soon be dismantled after hosting seven matches in two weeks at Qatar 2022. ...more
 
'Doomsday glacier,' which could raise sea level by several feet, is holding on 'by its fingernails,' scientists say 6/9/2022
Antarctica's so-called "doomsday glacier" -- nicknamed because of its high risk of collapse and threat to global sea level -- has the potential to rapidly retreat in the coming years, scientists say, amplifying concerns over the extreme sea level rise that would accompany its potential demise. ...more
 
The audacious PR plot that seeded doubt about climate change 27/7/2022
Thirty years ago, a bold plan was cooked up to spread doubt and persuade the public that climate change was not a problem. The little-known meeting - between some of America's biggest industrial players and a PR genius - forged a devastatingly successful strategy that endured for years, and the consequences of which are all around us. ...more
 
Bottling the sun 14/6/2022
From a small hill in the southern French region of Provence, you can see two suns. One has been blazing for four-and-a-half billion years and is setting. The other is being built by thousands of human minds and hands, and is — far more slowly — rising. The last of the real sun’s evening rays cast a magical glow over the other — an enormous construction site that could solve the biggest existential crisis in human history. ...more
 
Ukraine's natural environment is another casualty of war. The damage could be felt for decades 23/5/2022
The pine forests around Irpin are Oleh Bondarenko's happy place. He discovered them as a child, when his mom sent him to the area for summer camp, and he has been coming back ever since. ...more
 
Forests Can Heal an Ailing Planet – But Champions Needed 10/5/2022
Humanity has been receiving warning signs for some time that our home, the Earth, is in peril. The concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is increasing and the global average temperature is rising. Thousands of species are threatened with extinction. Vast areas of land have become degraded, ten million hectares of forest are being cleared each year, and more than 800 million people are malnourished. ...more
 
Building Materials – A Hidden Heavyweight for Climate Action 7/4/2022
An era of massive construction is currently underway, with a new area the size of Paris being built every week. The global building floor area is expected to double by 2060, which will have a massive impact on the climate. The production of building materials and construction activities are already responsible for 10% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. ...more
 
More than Just SDG 12: How Circular Economy can Bring Holistic Wellbeing 7/4/2022
As it’s moved from the fringes of academia into the mainstream, the circular economy has been posited as a means to address ecological breakdown by cutting resource extraction and limiting warming to 1.5-degrees. Now, practitioners are also exploring how a circular economy with social and ethical concerns at its heart can create new jobs, ensure more equitable resource management and combat inequalities. ...more
 
Preventing Plastic Pollution with Partnership 10/3/2022
The world has a plastic problem. Since the 1950s, the rate of plastic production has grown exponentially and faster than that of any other material. This is a trend with severe environmental consequences. ...more
 
Blue Peace in the Middle East: A 12-year Journey Towards Water Cooperation for Sustainable Development 28/2/2022
According to a Chinese proverb, ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’.This certainly holds true for the Blue Peace Middle East (BPME) initiative which was launched in 2010 with the aim of transforming water from a potential source of conflict into an instrument of cooperation and peace. ...more
 
Animal Welfare Matters for Sustainable Development: UNEA 5.2 is an Opportunity for Governments to Recognize That 25/2/2022
This Monday, 28 February, the world’s environment ministers will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, to resume the fifth UN Environment Assembly, which takes up the theme of ‘Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs). Ahead of the Conference, seven countries from Africa and South Asia have tabled a resolution on animal welfare, the environment, and the sustainable development nexus. ...more
 
Governments Weigh New Global Treaty on Plastics and Sustainable Development 25/2/2022
Plastic pollution doesn’t stop at borders. It’s everywhere: in the water we drink, the air we breathe, and even in the most remote parts of the planet. International policy measures must be taken to address the scope of the problem. Later this month, we have an opportunity to do just that. ...more
 
Solar Power to the Rescue? Leveraging the Resilience of Farmers in Fragile and Conflict-affected Countries to Achieve the SDGs 8/2/2022
In the past decade, food security conditions have substantially deteriorated across conflict-affected countries in the Middle East. Wars have damaged key infrastructure that supports the agricultural sector, such as transportation, water, and sanitation. As a result of conflict, food prices have increased, incomes diminished, joblessness soared, and lack of equitable access to water and food intensified. ...more
 
China’s Artificial Sun Just Broke a Record for Longest Sustained Nuclear Fusion 24/1/2022
Superheated plasma reached 126 million degrees Fahrenheit for 17 minutes ...more
 
Petra and Climate Change… How to safeguard the "Lost City"? 21/1/2022
Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, which has welcomed 1,135,300 visitors in 2019, is prone to witness more hydrological hazards, including flash floods, landslides, and earthquakes, due to climate change, urban expansion at the site’s neighboring areas, and its geological location near the Jordan rift valley. ...more
 
EU moves towards limiting carbon emissions from shipping 24/3/2023
EU countries on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime sector by increasing the use of renewable fuels on ships. ...more
 
Companies would have to offer repairs for worn-out products for up to 10 years under proposed EU rules 24/3/2023
The European Union wants to give consumers the right to have worn-out products like washing machines and televisions repaired by producers even after the sales guarantee has expired, to cut waste and make goods last longer. ...more
 
ECB slowly trims carbon footprint of its bond stash 24/3/2023
The European Central Bank has trimmed the carbon intensity of its 385-billion-euro stash of corporate bonds but the dwindling of purchases is slowing its progress, an ECB report showed on Thursday. ...more
 
China to launch rural pilot scheme for renewable energy 24/3/2023
China will launch a pilot scheme to promote the development of renewable energy in rural areas, according to an action plan released by the National Energy Administration (NEA) on Thursday. ...more
 
Decline of more than 500 species of marine life on Australian reefs ‘the tip of the iceberg’, study finds 24/3/2023
More than 500 common species of fish, seaweed, coral and invertebrates that live on reefs around Australia have declined in the past decade, a study has found, as experts warn “not all is well in the ocean”. ...more
 
EU Commission proposes rules to better fight greenwashing 23/3/2023
The European Union’s executive arm proposed rules Wednesday to protect consumers from businesses selling goods labeled as green which actually aren’t. ...more
 
Colombia sharply raises reforestation target to more than 1.8 mln acres 23/3/2023
Colombia's government has sharply raised its reforestation target to 750,000 hectares (1.85 million acres) by 2026, the environment ministry said, as part of the leftist government's plans to tackle climate change. ...more
 
India's capital bets on more e-buses, solar energy to curb pollution 23/3/2023
India’s New Delhi, the world’s most polluted capital, is betting on expanding its fleet of electric buses and using more solar power in the next three years to improve the city’s air quality, its finance minister said on Wednesday. ...more
 
Hydrologist Andrea Rinaldo wins Stockholm Water Prize 2023 23/3/2023
The world-renowned hydrologist Andrea Rinaldo was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize 2023 for his ground-breaking research on river networks, demonstrating their significance in the spread of solutes, aquatic species, and diseases. ...more
 
Fears for orangutans, dolphins as Indonesia presses on with new capital 23/3/2023
Just outside Indonesia's planned new capital on Borneo island, an orangutan catches a banana with one hand, thrown by a conservationist on a boat, while her other hand clings to a tree branch. ...more
 
Egyptian startup turns millions of bags into tiles 22/3/2023
An Egyptian startup is aiming to turn more than 5 billion plastic bags into tiles tougher than cement as it tackles the twin problems of tonnes of waste entering the Mediterranean Sea and high levels of building sector emissions. ...more
 
Imminent risk of a global water crisis (UNESCO/UN-Water) 22/3/2023
Between two and three billion people worldwide experience water shortages. These shortages will worsen in the coming decades, especially in cities, if international cooperation in this area is not boosted, warn UNESCO and UN-Water in the latest edition of the UN World Water Development Report. ...more
 
Record 9.6% Growth in Renewables Achieved Despite Energy Crisis 22/3/2023
Expansion of renewable power generation in 2022 confirms upward trend of renewables against declining new fossil fuel capacity ...more
 
EU lawmakers toughen up draft law on environmental crimes 22/3/2023
European Union lawmakers on Tuesday toughened up a draft law to crack down on illegal timber trade and other crimes against the environment, with sanctions that include imprisonment for up to 10 years for the most serious offences. ...more
 
Reuters Exclusive: EU drafts plan to allow e-fuel combustion engine cars - document 22/3/2023
The European Commission has drafted a plan allowing sales of new cars with internal combustion engines that run only on climate neutral e-fuels, in an attempt to resolve a spat with Germany over the EU's phasing out of combustion engine cars from 2035. ...more
 
'Climate time bomb ticking', emissions must urgently be cut, UN chief says 21/3/2023
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the "climate time bomb is ticking" as he urged rich nations on Monday to slash emissions sooner after a new assessment from scientists said there was little time to lose in tackling climate change. ...more
 
190 million children at risk from water-related crises: UNICEF 21/3/2023
A new analysis from the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, shows that some 190 million children in 10 African countries are at the highest risk from a convergence of three water-related threats – inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); related diseases; and climate hazards. ...more
 
Rising airline emissions could trigger global caps as early as 2024 -trade group 21/3/2023
Rising airline traffic is expected to trigger global emissions-related requirements for some carriers as early as next year, according to a top airline trade group, even as debate broadens on the effectiveness of that approach. ...more
 
North Yorkshire village switches to dark sky-friendly lighting 21/3/2023
An entire village in North Yorkshire is turning down its lights to provide a better view of the Milky Way. ...more
 
Vietnam seizes 7 tonnes ivory in largest wildlife smuggling case in years 21/3/2023
Vietnamese authorities on Monday seized seven tonnes of ivory smuggled from Angola, the largest seizure of wildlife products in years, the government said. ...more
 
Developing countries could miss out on green tech-related economic boost, UN body says 20/3/2023
Developing countries could miss out on the economic opportunities resulting from green technologies if governments and international bodies do not take decisive action, a UN body said. ...more
 
‘A wake-up call’: total weight of wild mammals less than 10% of humanity’s 20/3/2023
The total weight of Earth’s wild land mammals – from elephants to bisons and from deer to tigers – is now less than 10% of the combined tonnage of men, women and children living on the planet. ...more
 
Nature in danger as mountain forest loss quickens 20/3/2023
Mountain forests are disappearing at an alarming rate, threatening nature in some of the planet's most biologically rich areas, warn scientists. ...more
 
Ecuador has financing for Galapagos reserve, still open to blue bonds, minister says 20/3/2023
Ecuador has secured $150 million in financing to manage its expanded marine reserve around the Galapagos, but remains open to blue bonds to benefit the environmentally sensitive area, Environment Minister Gustavo Manrique said Friday. ...more
 
Gucci, YSL owner Kering pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035 20/3/2023
France's Kering, owner of luxury brands Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, on Friday pledged to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035 from 2021 levels, amid increased scrutiny of environmental issues among consumers. ...more
 
 
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