Academics from Arizona State University are hard at work promoting sustainability and regional cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a politically stable and very prosperous Gulf country. A delegation from Arizona traveled to the United Arab Emirates this past January for a series of meetings to follow-up on last summer’s visit to their university […]
As African nations sell and lease its land, and birthright, to the world’s super-powers, and arguably “dangerous” countries like Saudi Arabia who support Islamic fundamentalism, we are seeing a brand new kind of neo-colonial land-grab, and it scares me. I’d reported on Galten’s Jatropha seeds for biofuel here, and also on the Israeli conglomerate Ormat, […]
A Bangladesh developer in the alternative energy field won the coveted Zayed Future Energy Prize at a recent competition held in the United Arab Emirates State of Abu Dhabi. Dipal Barua’s non-profit company Grameen Shakti was founded in 1996 to provide alternative energy solutions to one of the world’s poorest nations, where most of the […]
How do changemakers form bold ideas, and turn them into a massive project like a major documentary film? Today we talk with Courtney Nichols, producer of the new film Blood For Water, on how she came from the world of business to take on the global problem of water politics head on. She’s planning on turning […]
We’ve oohed and awed over the green building projects in Dubai: A recent survey has consigned that old saying ‘Location is everything,’ to the scrapheap when it comes to property investors looking to flash their cash in the Middle East. Instead, eco is where it’s at, according to a new United Arab Emirates report. A […]
For those of you who hate scorching your feet on hot beach sand, the developers of one of Dubai’s latest luxury hotels has the ultimate pampering for you: the climate controlled beach. No more toasted toes on the way to the waves of the Arab Gulf, promises the Palazzo Versace. The beach will feature a […]
The S400 was unveiled to the region at last week’s 2008 Abu Dhabi International Motor Show, and is expected to go on sale next August. Mercedes is touting its car as the first luxury hybrid in the Middle East, though Lexus has been selling its luxury RX400h SUV in Israel since 2007. But no one […]
Air pollution from transportation is costing Arab countries $5 billion in damages, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Environment and Water recently announced. The cost is calculated based on the number of deaths, medical care for health problems and chronic diseases that are attributed to air pollution. The minister, Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, […]
You probably wouldn’t have oil-rich emirate, Abu Dhabi, pegged for environmental awareness. The United Arab Emirates are notorious for their abundance of fossil fuels and thus, sadly, do their fair share to contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. This week, though, the state-owned Abu Dhabi Media Company announced that it would collaborate with National Geographic on […]
Stay tuned for our future eco-tour of Dubai, but in the meantime let’s take a look at some green goings-on in Dubai. Because we’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover that very interesting things are happening over there. For starters, the Dubai government recently issued a requirement that all buildings in the emirate be constructed with […]