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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

Water-Energy Nexus in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates has been witnessing fast-paced economic growth as well as rapid increase in population during the last couple of decades. As a result, the need for water and energy has increased significantly and this trend is expected to continue into the future. Water in the UAE comes from four different sources – groundwater (44%), desalinated seawater (42%), treated wastewater (14%), and surface water (1%). Most of the groundwater and treated seawater are used for irrigation and landscaping while desalinated seawater is used for drinking, household, industrial, and commercial purposes. Water consumption per capita in UAE is more … Continue reading

Artisanal Fishing in Morocco – Enormous Resources and Pressing Constraints

In Morocco, artisanal fishing is a traditional activity based on canoes, generally made of wood, generally equipped with an outboard engine and a small crew of three people on average, fishing for benthic and surface species. Fishing is mostly based on the coastline and in estuaries and lakes. Morocco overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean with coastlines extending over more than three thousand five hundred kilometers, opening its shields to tens of thousands of fishermen. Artisanal fishing in the Moroccan Mediterranean Sea occupies a great place, due to the advantages it offers, especially the large mass of labor … Continue reading

Hima: Integration of Religion and Conservation

Revisiting the earliest days of rural, pastoral- and agriculture-based societies offers thought-provoking answers to solve today’s crises. At the highest levels of international concern, Islam’s formalized system of “Hima,” or Nature Conservation, is receiving optimistic attention. One of the reasons why Hima is an interesting solution for today’s conservation needs is because it developed under a similar set of crises. Relatively speaking, the ratio of human population to accessible natural resources in the days of Moses was just as dire as today’s challenges. It is possible to recognize the development of Hima by following the early days of Prophet Moses, … Continue reading

نظرة عامة حول جودة الهواء في الدول العربية

تدهورت جودة الهواء في الدول العربية خلال العقود القليلة الماضية ، حيث آرتفع معدل  انبعاثات ثاني أكسيد الكربون (CO2) إلى حوالي الضعف. كما ساهمت  التغييرات التي عرفها  قطاع الطاقة والتي استمدت من التجارب الناجحة في تطوير معدل النفاذ إلى مصادر الطاقة بعدد من بلدان المنطقة  في  إحراق المزيد من الوقود الأحفوري في محطات الطاقة الحرارية لتلبية الزيادة في الطلب على الطاقة. ازداد استهلاك الكهرباء بنسبة 75.5 في المائة ، مما أدى إلى إنبعاث ما مجموعه 766.5 مليون طن من ثاني أكسيد الكربون في عام 2015 ، مقارنة بـ 436.6 في عام 2006. كما آرتفعت الإنبعاثات الصادرة من قطاع النقل بسبب … Continue reading

Energy Sector in Arab Countries

The Arab energy sector has played and will continue to play an important role in the regional as well as global economy. In addition to satisfying energy needs for economic and social development, it is the source of oil and gas export revenues contributing to economic development. The Arab oil and gas sector represents the largest economic sector in the region. Increase of oil revenues were the main drivers for economic development in most of the Arab oil producing countries. The Arab economies, as well, are heavily dependent on oil and gas to meet their domestic energy demand. Oil contributes … Continue reading

Climate Change Mitigation in Tunisia: Challenges and Progress

Climate change has become a reality in Tunisia, which is struggling to cope with the problems of desertification, water scarcity and the degradation of natural resources. Despite its limited carbon footprint, the risks of climate change may be high. The fourth Arab country to have published its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, Tunisia has put climate change on the top of its political and economic agenda. It is also the first country in the region to include in its new Constitution recognition of climate change: “A sound and balanced environment while contributing to … Continue reading