Wednesday 26 Nov 2025 |
AFED2023
 
AFEDAnnualReports
Environment and development AL-BIA WAL-TANMIA Leading Arabic Environment Magazine

314 - May 2024
Editorial
Forum
Najib Saab
Coalition of 'climate willing' partners needed
Najib Saab
Climate action is facing unprecedented challenges, due to the rise of populist movements led by the United States administration
more...

Nate Blum
Sorghum and the Carbon Economy: Unlocking Nature-Based Solutions for a Warming Planet
Nate Blum
As the planet faces increasing climate-related challenges, there’s growing recognition that some of the most powerful solutions may come from the natu
more...

Antonio Guterres
A RESCUE PLAN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Antonio Guterres
This month, leaders will gather in Sevilla, Spain, on a rescue mission: to help fix how the world invests in sustainable development
more...

Tom Pickerell
UN Ocean Conference Ends with Momentum — and Missed Chances
Tom Pickerell
There's real momentum coming out of Nice — but also a lot of unfinished business
more...
 
 
 
Meet the
 Editor-in-Chief
Najib Saab
 
 
Selected articles News
Climate Action Has a Messaging Problem 14/9/2025
In the summer of 2024, Dutch citizens ranked climate change as the most serious problem facing the world. Just a few months later, they elected a national government that ran on a platform of pulling back its climate policies. ...more
 
Europe’s Soaring Heat and the Great Air Conditioning Dilemma 21/8/2025
Much of Europe sweltered in August 2025 as a heat dome spread across the continent, pushing peak afternoon temperatures to over 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) in France and Spain. Meanwhile, parts of Greece, Turkey and Albania battled historic and devastating wildfires as high temperatures scorch the land. ...more
 
Planned hydrogen refuelling stations may lead to millions of euros in yearly losses 10/7/2025
As hydrogen infrastructure is rolled out in the EU, refuelling stations must be distributed according to the same principle in all countries. But now a study from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, points to shortcomings in EU regulations. Using an advanced model, the researchers show that the distribution of refuelling stations may both be incorrectly dimensioned and lead to losses of tens of millions of euros a year in some countries. ...more
 
Ships trigger high and unexpected emissions of the greenhouse gas methane 3/7/2025
Ship traffic in shallow areas, such as ports, can trigger large methane emissions by just moving through the water. The researchers in a study, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, observed twenty times higher methane emissions in the shipping lane compared to nearby undisturbed areas. Despite the fact that methane is a greenhouse gas that is 27 times as powerful as carbon dioxide, these emissions are often overlooked with today's measurement methods. ...more
 
Agricultural waste can become the clothes of the future 17/6/2025
Cellulose-based textile materials can make the clothing sector more sustainable. Currently, cellulose-based textiles are mainly made from wood, but a study headed by researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden points to the possibility of using agricultural waste from wheat and oat. The method is easier and requires fewer chemicals than manufacturing forest-based cellulose, and can enhance the value of waste products from agriculture. ...more
 
Transforming waste into a public asset: Michigan State University leads next-generation anaerobic digestion innovation 10/6/2025
MSU is spearheading next-generation anaerobic digestion technologies that convert agricultural and food waste into renewable energy, recover nutrients and water, and support environmental sustainability across Michigan and the Great Lakes region. ...more
 
Massive Growth Ahead: Low Carbon Building Market Eyes $1.3 Trillion by 2033 14/5/2025
According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, the low carbon building market size was valued at $0.6 trillion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $1.3 trillion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2024 to 2033. ...more
 
A Step Toward Harnessing Clean Energy From Falling Rainwater 23/4/2025
When two materials come into contact, charged entities on their surfaces get a little nudge. This is how rubbing a balloon on the skin creates static electricity. Likewise, water flowing over some surfaces can gain or lose charge. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have harnessed the phenomenon to generate electricity from rain-like droplets moving through a tube. They demonstrate a new kind of flow that makes enough power to light 12 LEDs ...more
 
Difficult and costly energy transition unless the EU invests in biomass 22/4/2025
Biomass is currently the EU’s largest renewable energy source, but climate strategies often focus on other energy sources. A comprehensive analysis, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, now shows that biomass is crucial for Europe's ability to reach its climate targets, as it can be used to produce fossil-free fuels and chemicals and also enables carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. If biomass were excluded from the European energy system, it would cost an extra 169 billion Euros per year – about the same as the cost of excluding wind power. ...more
 
Renting clothes for sustainable fashion – niche markets work best 27/3/2025
Renting clothes can reduce the fashion industry's enormous environmental impact, but so far, the business models have not worked very well. The best chance of success is for a rental company to provide clothing within a niche market, such as specific sportswear, and to work closely with the suppliers and clothing manufacturers. This is shown by a study led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, which highlights the measures that can make clothing rental a success. ...more
 
Ice stupas of the Ladakh desert: an ingenious solution to water scarcity – a picture essay 28/1/2025
Farmers in the northern Indian region used to rely on snow and glacier meltwater, but the climate crisis is disrupting the water cycle – which means new ways of storing water are needed ...more
 
Toxic waste from world's deadliest gas leak fuels protests in India 23/1/2025
Vegetable vendor Shivnarayan Dasana had never seen so many policemen descend on his village in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. ...more
 
Natural disasters in the past 12 months have been the most costly and impactful stretch of extreme weather in America in 90 years 18/1/2025
Experts at AccuWeather say extreme weather events and disasters in the past 12 months have had the costliest and most widespread impacts that Americans have faced in nearly a century.    ...more
 
Arab-Israeli Environmental Cooperation: A Controversial Path to Peace Amid Ecocide 28/11/2024
On August 30, 2024, amid the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that Lebanon joined the Saudi-led Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), describing the step as crucial, especially for southern border towns and villages that are suffering significant environmental and agricultural damage. ...more
 
CO2 & Waste-Derived Bioplastics: Pioneering Sustainable Manufacturing 22/11/2024
As the world grapples with the environmental impact of traditional plastics, bioplastics derived from carbon dioxide (CO2) and waste materials present a promising solution. This emerging sustainable market seeks to address two critical global challenges: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and managing waste. By converting CO2 and waste into useful bioplastics, scientists and companies are pioneering technologies that could revolutionize the way we produce and consume plastics. ...more
 
Stormy days are becoming more common in the UAE because of climate change, study finds 27/11/2025
Climate change is making stormy days in the UAE more common and more intense, according to a new study. ...more
 
Trump seeks to ease US regulations for coal-fired power plants 27/11/2025
President Donald Trump's administration has asked a federal court to strike down 2024 soot limits for power plants and factories and separately delayed by three years a deadline for coal plants to clean up coal waste. ...more
 
Links between climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution highlight need for policies that work together 27/11/2025
Environmental challenges are becoming increasingly interconnected, with climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and resource pressures reinforcing one another in ways that require policies in each area to work together more effectively, according to a new OECD report. ...more
 
Mountains Are Warming Faster, Putting Billions at Risk 27/11/2025
Nature study finds quicker warming, more rain (less snow), higher flood danger—from the Alps to the Andes and Himalayas ...more
 
AI’s Role in Wildfire Prevention 27/11/2025
AI startups are aiding power companies across Europe and the United States to prevent wildfires. ...more
 
China's new coal plant permits set for four-year low in 2025, analysis finds 26/11/2025
China's new coal plant permits for 2025 are on track to fall to a four-year low, a new Greenpeace analysis showed on Tuesday, indicating that growing use of renewables is cutting into demand for new coal plants. ...more
 
Toxic mines put Southeast Asia's rivers, people at risk, study says 26/11/2025
For most of her life, 59-year-old farmer Tip Kamlue has irrigated her fields in northern Thailand with the waters of the Kok River, which flows down from neighbouring Myanmar before joining with the Mekong River that cuts through Southeast Asia. ...more
 
UK can create 5,400 jobs if it stops plastic waste exports, report finds 26/11/2025
Campaigners say closure of loophole making it cheaper to export rather than recycle will boost circular economy ...more
 
Shell and Ferrari sign long-term green power supply deal 26/11/2025
Shell (SHEL.L) has signed a long-term deal to supply Ferrari (RACE.MI) with renewable energy until the end of 2034 to help the luxury carmaker to reduce carbon emissions, the oil and gas group said on Tuesday. ...more
 
The species at risk of extinction named in UK-first report 26/11/2025
Thousands of species at risk of extinction in Wales have been revealed in a new study. ...more
 
First Sighting of White-Tailed Eagle in Saudi Arabia at Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve 25/11/2025
An extremely rare sighting of a juvenile, migratory white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) has been documented at Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve - the first confirmed record of this species in Saudi Arabia in over two decades, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Sunday. ...more
 
Takeaways from the COP30 climate summit in Brazil 25/11/2025
This year's U.N. climate change summit ended with a tenuous compromise for a deal that skipped over most countries' key demands but for one: committing wealthy countries to triple their spending to help others adapt to global warming. ...more
 
Deforestation is the climate deal-breaker the world can't afford to ignore any more 25/11/2025
Studies suggests that half of the Amazon rainforest could collapse by mid-century, converting to drier savannah? ...more
 
How soil could be the secret weapon to meet climate targets 25/11/2025
The key to meeting global climate targets may have been right beneath our feet this entire time. ...more
 
UK wildfires devastated more areas in 2025 than at any time since records began, figures show 25/11/2025
Firefighters call for long-term investment and say UK is dangerously underprepared as climate crisis worsens. ...more
 
UAE-led weather warning project to reach 100 million farmers by 2030 24/11/2025
A UAE initiative that gives advance warning of bad weather, pest outbreaks and other risks aims to reach 100 million farmers by 2030, it was announced at the Cop30 climate summit. ...more
 
COP30 seals uneasy climate deal that sidesteps fossil fuels 24/11/2025
Brazil's COP30 presidency pushed through a compromise climate deal on Saturday that would boost finance for poor nations coping with global warming but that omitted any mention of the fossil fuels driving it. ...more
 
G20 summit declaration stresses seriousness of climate change in snub to Trump 24/11/2025
The Leaders' Declaration from a Group of 20 summit in South Africa on Saturday stressed the seriousness of climate change, in a snub to U.S. President Donald Trump, who boycotted the gathering and doubts the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activities. ...more
 
Reuters Exclusive: Europe plans service to gauge climate change role in extreme weather 24/11/2025
The EU is launching a service to measure the role climate change is playing in extreme weather events like heatwaves and extreme rain, and experts say this could help governments set climate policy, improve financial risk assessments and provide evidence for use in lawsuits. ...more
 
Olive farmers face danger, neglect after Israel’s war in southern Lebanon 24/11/2025
Farmers risk lives harvesting olives under Israeli military surveillance in Lebanon’s border regions. ...more
 
Masdar, Tadweer Group to develop Abu Dhabi’s first commercial waste-to-sustainable aviation fuel project 21/11/2025
Masdar and Tadweer Group on Thursday signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to progress the development of the first commercial-scale Waste-to-Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) project in Abu Dhabi. ...more
 
World's richest nations are pulling back from global development efforts, study show 21/11/2025
Two dozen of the world's richest nations, including the United States and Japan, are pulling back from their global development push, a study published on Thursday shows, with many slashing aid budgets and cash funnelled through multilateral lenders. ...more
 
Trump administration proposes to loosen rules protecting endangered species 21/11/2025
The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed four new rules that would roll back Biden-era regulations that strengthened protections for endangered species. ...more
 
Germany to contribute 1 billion euros to Brazil's forest fund, Brazil environment minister says 21/11/2025
Brazilian environment minister Marina Silva said on Wednesday at the COP30 climate conference in Belem that Germany will contribute 1 billion euros to Brazil's forest fund, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility. ...more
 
Cambodia releases rare captive-bred storks in conservation breakthrough 21/11/2025
Conservationists in Cambodia have for the first time released two captive-bred Greater Adjutant Stork chicks into the wild as part of an ongoing programme to revive a species under threat from poaching and habitat loss. ...more
 
 
Poll of the month
Do you prefer a printed magazine or an electronic one?

Ask An Expert
Boghos Ghougassian
Composting
Videos
 
Recent Publications
Arab Environment 9: Sustainable Development in a Changing Arab Climate
ان جميع مقالات ونصوص "البيئة والتنمية" تخضع لرخصة الحقوق الفكرية الخاصة بـ "المنشورات التقنية". يتوجب نسب المقال الى "البيئة والتنمية" . يحظر استخدام النصوص لأية غايات تجارية . يُحظر القيام بأي تعديل أو تحوير أو تغيير في النص الأصلي. لمزيد من المعلومات عن حقوق النشر يرجى الاتصال بادارة المجلة
© All rights reserved, Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia and Technical Publications. Proper reference should appear with any contents used or quoted. No parts of the contents may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means without permission. Use for commercial purposes should be licensed.