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Why You Should Consider Sustainable Merchandise For Your Next Corporate Event

Imagine your company’s next corporate event. You’re shaking hands, exchanging ideas – and gifts. But what if those gifts did more than just break the ice? What if they stood for something bigger? Sustainability isn’t a buzzword anymore; it’s a business imperative. Companies weaving eco-friendly practices into their fabric are not only benefiting our planet but also scoring big with consumers and stakeholders who value environmental responsibility. Now, let’s dive into why embracing sustainable merchandise is more than a mere nod to current trends – it’s an investment in your brand’s future and the world we share. Let’s have a … Continue reading

The Blue Belt Initiative: Promising Ambition To Transform Challenges Into Opportunities That Protect The Oceans

It is good for the African continent to wrap itself with the belt of sustainability and the protection of marine biodiversity. What’s even better is for the ‘Blue Belt Initiative’ to launch from the furthest northwest point of the African continent (Marrakech, Morocco), a Mediterranean and African region, and in a global forum where the international community discusses a crucial issue for our planet’s security, the issue of climate. The “Blue Belt Initiative” started during the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP22), hosted by Morocco in 2016. The initiative serves as an international … Continue reading

Finance for Green Entrepreneurs, Start-ups, and SMEs: Perspectives for Jordan

Jordan is one of the most water scarce countries in the world where resources are far below the water poverty line which is 1000 m3 per capita per year. Adding to water scarcity, energy availability is another challenge where 96% of the demand is imported from outside.  Due to climate change, both water and energy sectors are expected to be negatively impacted. Lack of water and high prices of energy will both hinder the economic growth and employment rates adding further stress on the current high unemployment percentage specially among youth. Need for Green Economy To get out of this … Continue reading

All You Need to Know About Renewable Energy in Jordan

Renewable energy systems have been used in Jordan since early 1970s. Infact, Jordan has been a pioneer in renewable energy promotion in the Middle East with its first wind power pilot project in Al-Ibrahemiya as early as 1988. In the recent past, Jordan has witnessed a surge in initiatives to generate power from renewable resources with financial and technical backing from the government, international agencies and foreign donors. However, renewable energy in Jordan remains largely untapped due to high cost associated with non-conventional energy resources and relatively cheap availability of oil and natural gas. Wind energy is feasible mainly in … Continue reading

Storm Alexa – Positive Aspects for MENA

The year 2013 saw history being made when Storm Alexa swept across the Middle East and North Africa bringing blizzards, torrential rain and icy winds to a region that hasn’t experienced such a storm in over 100 years. Storm Alexa caused devastating floods in Arab cities, such as Gaza, and power cuts in certain areas of Jordan. Heavy snowfall in Jordan covered the streets, hindering mobility and forcing people into their homes for several days. The storm has also brought hardship and misery upon the Syrian refugees enduring the bitter cold in fragile tents and makeshift shelters. Positive Aspects However, … Continue reading

Effective Ways to Tackle the Menace of E-Waste

Daily life has been made far more efficient, and glamorous, as technology improves at phenomenal rates. We are encouraged to go paperless, and drastically reduce waste from paper materials. However, technology has its own waste issues to deal with. Electronic waste (or e-waste), is the fastest growing waste stream, and its disposal is a major environmental concern in all parts of the world. When new technology does out with the old, our current model of disposing of ‘outdated’ technology is harming people, profits and most importantly, the planet. More than 50 million of tons of e-waste is generated globally and the quantity is rapidly … Continue reading

Waste-to-Energy in Jordan: Potential and Challenges

Effective sustainable solid waste management is of great importance both for people’s health and for environmental protection. In Jordan, insufficient financial resources, growing population, rapid urbanization, inadequate management and lacking of technical skills represent a serious environmental challenge confronting local government. At the same time, energy remains Jordan’s top challenge for development. The energy needs to be produced in a sustainable way, preferably from renewable sources which have a minimum environmental impact. To face the future problems in waste management, as well as securing the demand of renewable energy, it is necessary to reuse the wasted resources in energy production. … Continue reading

Green Sukuk: A Shariah-Compliant Green Financing Instrument

Is it possible to sustain eco-friendly projects without incurring the violation of shari’ah principles of Islamic finance? The answer is positive, and the sustainable instrument which allows to do it is the green sukuk. Sukuk is the plural form of the Arabic word “sakk”. Since the Umayyad period, the sakk represented a payment tool to remunerate state-salaried officials as military forces and government bureaucrats. It functioned as a trustee certificate that entitled the holders to redeem a specific and determined-in-advance number of commodities from the state treasury at a precise time.[1] In its contemporary meaning, according to the Accounting and … Continue reading

حماية البيئة هدف إستراتيجي في رؤية السعودية 2030

لعقود مضت وصمت أنماط الإستهلاك السائدة آنذاك بغير المستدامة (الإستهلاك المفرط في إنتاج وإستهلاك السلع والخدمات على حساب الإستنزاف الجائر للموارد الطبيعية و حقوق الأجيال القادمة)، فقد فرضت التحولات الاقتصادية والاجتماعية و البيئية ضغطا على الدول لإعتماد أنظمة تنموية وإقتصادية حديثة تراعي تحقيق التوازن بين الحفاظ على الموارد الطبيعية و تعزيز النمو الاقتصادي على نحو مستدام. ولذلك تعمل المملكة العربية السعودية في تشكيل سياساتها على النحو الذي يحمي ثروتها النفطية، ويحسن من كفاءة إستهلاكها للطاقة ويدعم إستخدم المزيج الأمثل للطاقة الذي يشمل الإستفادة من الموارد الطبيعية المتجددة (تذكر الرؤيا إمكانية السعودية في توليد الطاقة من الطاقة الشمسية وطاقة الرياح بحوالي … Continue reading

Hazardous Wastes in UAE

The United Arab Emirates signed the Basel Convention* in November 1992 and established a legislation called ‘Regulation for Handling Hazardous Materials, Hazardous Wastes and Medical Waste (Law 24 of 1999)’. Article 12 of the law states ‘Transportation and disposal of locally produced hazardous waste through land borders, marine environment limit and air space shall be controlled in accordance with the rules, procedure and controls mentioned and specified in Basel Agreement and in coordination with Federal Environmental Agency’. UAE is not yet a signatory to Basel BAN amendments of Sep 1995 thus there is no mention of the Basel BAN amendments in … Continue reading

Water Scarcity in MENA

The MENA region is the most water scarce region of the world. The region is home to 6.3 percent of world’s population but has access to measly 1.4 percent of the world’s renewable fresh water. The average water availability per person in other geographical regions is about 7,000 m3/year, whereas water availability is merely 1,200 m3/person/year in the MENA region. The region has the highest per capita rates of freshwater extraction in the world (804 m3/year) and currently exploits over 75 percent of its renewable water resources. Due to burgeoning population and rapid economic growth, the per capita water availability … Continue reading

الاستدامة البيئية في الإسلام

إن المعتقدات، التقاليد والقيم الإسلامية وفرت حلول فعالة وشاملة لمواجهة العديد من التحديات البيئية الحالية التي تواجه الجنس البشري. لقد أكد الإسلام على أهمية المحافظة على البيئة وحماية الموارد الطبيعية. ووفقا لتعاليم الشريعة الإسلامية, فإن العناصر الأساسية للطبيعة – الأرض، الماء، النار، الغابات والضوء- تعود ملكيتها إلى جميع الكائنات الحية وليس فقط للجنس البشري. إن القرآن الكريم والسنة النبوية الشريفة يعتبران نبراسا في تعزيز مفهوم التنمية المستدامة في الدول الإسلامية، وكذلك في جميع أنحاء العالم. أمر الله سبحانه وتعالى البشر بتجنب إلحاق الأذى وهدر الموارد الطبيعية والذي من شأنه تدمير وتدهور البيئة. إن الله سبحانه وتعالى ميز الجنس البشري باستغلال … Continue reading