What are the Key Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility?
Corporate social responsibility benefits are often understated outside of the business world.
Sustainable Development
Israel’s biggest green group plants a project in support of Syrian refugees
Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael or in English, Jewish National Fund (KKL- JNF), is the Israel-based non-profit founded on principals of land reclamation and afforestation. This group has announced a new undertaking that will serve dual ambitions of stewardship over the environment, and its most vulnerable people. At a press event in Brussels recently, KKL-JNF World Chairman Danny […]
Sustainable student village from shipping containers!
Sderot’s dusty streets and woeful aspect come naturally after enduring years of rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. In this Western Negev town in Israel, all bus stops are small bomb shelters. A traffic roundabout represents the town center, with a pizzeria, a stationary store, and some tired-looking clothing shops around it. The young, […]
Green up or ship out – Saudi clamps down on construction industry
Saudi Arabia has announced that the construction industry has five years to “green” up their business. Amid a massive construction boom, the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) has decreed that all companies must reduce their air, water and noise pollution in keeping with regulations approved in 2008.
Can there be more Masdar eco-cities in the Middle East?
Can there be more Masdars? Can this experimental eco-city be replicated in other Middle Eastern or North African countries that don’t have Abu Dhabi’s immense oil wealth? Green Prophet put this question to Anthony Mallows, Director of Masdar City, and Chris Chi Lon Wan, City Design Manager, during a recent roundtable discussion.
Masdar Wind Project May Blow Back Into Egypt
An ambitious collaboration between Egypt and renewables giant Masdar may be coming back to life following a two year hibernation. Is this a bona fide resurrection of a visionary joint venture or just a soundbite to broadcast the commercial ambitions of Masdar?
Dubai: World’s Largest Airport Greens Up its Act
Dubai International, soon to be the world’s largest airport, is focusing on sustainability with its newly proposed concourse D. The wing, which is the future home to 100 additional airlines, is scheduled to open in 2015.
Another Sustainable Development Report from Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi has been a leader in harnessing the power of the sun, clean technology and alternative sources of energy in the past few years. A new report form the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has shown that efforts are progressing quite positively for the Arab Gulf country.
The Big Ask – Is Islamic Sustainability The Answer To Our Green Prayers?
I interview Professor Al Jayoussi about Islamic notions of sustainability and whether they could ever be seen as universally applicable In a previous post, I raised concerns over what an Islamic worldview can realistically offer those looking for a new sustainability model. After reading Odeh Al Jayoussi’s book on the topic, I felt that there […]
Masdar’s Winning Blog: Demystifying the Water-Energy Nexus
If you are among the 70 or more bloggers who submitted an entry to Masdar’s blogging competition, or simply want to know what it takes to impress the jury of one of the leading promoters of sustainable technology and renewable energy, then this post might appeal to you. Professor of public and environmental affairs at […]
HIMA – A Traditional Arabian Conservation Concept Modernised
The traditional Middle Eastern concept of Hima, which means a protected area, has been explored and modernised as a type of sustainable development system under a new Hima Initiative. “Compared to what you have experienced, the Hima concept we are promoting is different,” Walid Saleh who is part of the Hima Initiative told GreenProphet. And […]
Masdar Aims to Stop Cooling From Gobbling up Gulf Energy
If you’ve been to Dubai or neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi in the middle of summer, you’ve not only experienced a kind of heat that drains the life force from your pores, but you will also recall the bone-freezing experience of walking into any public building during these same months. Counteracting soaring outdoor temperatures with overactive […]
Revolving Crystal Ball Predicts Qatar’s World Cup Ambitions
A giant revolving crystal ball provides a glimpse of Qatar’s 2022 world cup ambitions, which aren’t looking so sustainable after all. Apriori Communications commissioned Vedran Pedišić (SANGRAD) and Erick Velasco Farerra (AVP-arhitekti) to design a technologically-advanced spherical structure that will play host to a new FIFA soccer museum.
Sowwah Square Receives First LEED-CS Gold Pre-Certification in Abu Dhabi
Usually new developments seeking LEED certification have to “prove themselves” – so to speak – before they can achieve any kind of certification. However, in order to recognize the division between owners and tenants of new developments, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) makes an exception for core and shell buildings that are designed […]
Win a Climate Change Summer Camp in Jordan
A free, week-long summer camp on climate change at the end of the summer, in Jordan. Apply now! The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Foundation (HBS) in Ramallah, along with their Beirut and Tunis offices, hosts their Second Regional Summer School. This year they’re tackling two aspects of climate strategies specific to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) : the […]