Sustainability Spacecraft that spots Gulf gases wins extra funding A Bahraini-British project to develop a spacecraft that will monitor Gulf greenhouse gas emissions from space has been awarded a further £1.4 million ($1.8 million) grant by the UK Space Agency. The partnership between the Bahrain National Space Science Agency, YBA Kanoo Group in Manama, and the University of Leicester and Geospatial Insight of Birmingham […] April 10, 2024
Opinion Sustainability The Middle East is tackling the methane challenge Methane is a major contributor to global emissions and a significant driver of climate change April 9, 2024
Sustainability Egypt plans €100m smartphone recycling centre A €100 million smartphone refurbishment and recycling plant is being planned for the Suez Canal Economic Zone. The man leading the project is named by Daily News Egypt as Samuel Mathias, an expatriate Egyptian who is said to be a Paris-based electronics engineer and business owner. The newspaper said that Soha Gendi, Egypt’s minister of […] April 8, 2024
Sustainability Acwa Power to build $800m desalination plant in Senegal Acwa Power, Saudi Arabia’s operator of power generation and desalinated water production plants, will construct a SAR3 billion ($800 million) desalination plant in Dakar, Senegal. The company signed an agreement with Senegal’s ministry of water and sanitation and state-backed National Water Company, to build a 400,000 cubic metres per day desalination plant in Dakar. The […] March 29, 2024
Sustainability European bank backs Turkey’s decarbonisation Turkey has secured the backing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to launch a new initiative to decarbonise its hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel, cement, aluminium and fertiliser. The low-carbon pathways (LCPs) initiative will offer guidance to domestic and international players on the necessary technology and green financing to accelerate the country’s decarbonisation. The […] March 28, 2024
Opinion Transport If EVs can make it here, they can make it anywhere The battery powered car is on the up, even in the oil-soaked Gulf March 25, 2024
Sustainability Acwa Power faces $47m loss in Morocco solar plant outage Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power estimates it will incur a revenue loss of $47 million following a breakdown at one of its Morocco renewable energy plants. The 150-megawatt Noor III solar power plant will face a “forced outage” until November 2024 due to a leak in the molten salt hot tank, the company said in a […] March 25, 2024
Sustainability Saudi fund to invest $101m in Pakistan’s green projects The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) will provide $101 million in soft loans to support Pakistan’s green energy projects. The first agreement is for an investment of $66 million to construct the 48 megawatts (MW) Shounter Hydropower station, which will be connected to Pakistan’s national electricity grid, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. The project […] March 25, 2024
Opinion Agriculture The memory of water: Saudi Arabia’s troubled history Growing crops and preserving water is a balancing act for Saudi Arabia March 20, 2024
Analysis Renewable Energy Kuwait playing catch-up with latest renewables strategy Kuwait still has a way to go on its energy transition, industry experts say, despite the announcement of a 20-year renewables strategy. Salem Al-Hajraf, minister of electricity, water and renewable energy, said on March 7 that the country is targeting carbon neutrality by 2050. “We … need an increase in solar energy, which is considered […] March 20, 2024
Opinion Sustainability Carbon capture isn’t a silver bullet but it’s part of the answer The priority for the energy transition should be to reduce emissions. Systems integration can do this March 18, 2024
Analysis Trade Digital economy focus of UAE-Malaysia trade talks The UAE is expected to sign a free trade deal with Malaysia by the end of June as the latter courts more investment to develop its digital economy. Talks on establishing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) began last year and Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia’s minister of investment, trade and industry, said the two […] March 13, 2024
Sustainability Saudi Aramco unit backs US climate tech startup CarbonCapture, a climate tech company, has raised $80 million from investors, including Saudi Aramco’s venture capital unit. The series A fundraising was led by Prime Movers Lab and included Aramco Ventures, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Siemens Financial Services, Idealab X, and Marc Benioff’s Time Ventures. The Los Angeles-headquartered startup’s latest major funding round is one […] March 13, 2024
Sustainability Saudi company faces blowback over water use in Arizona The US state of Arizona has cancelled land lease deals with a subsidiary of the Saudi dairy company Almarai after complaints of groundwater being depleted in the arid region. The cancellation highlights tensions over corporations controlling foreign land for food security. In 2014 Almarai’s Fondomonte bought and leased thousands of acres in Arizona and California, […] March 12, 2024
Opinion Sustainability Desalination is the answer – but it must be green The path forward in addressing water scarcity and pollution demands pragmatic solutions March 8, 2024
Opinion Markets We must build investors’ trust in carbon markets. This is how Voluntary carbon markets are recovering after a difficult couple of years, but there's more to do March 6, 2024
Opinion Banking & Finance Took them long enough, but at last BlackRock is calling out ESG The US investment giant could have got there sooner if it had listened to the Gulf March 4, 2024
Sustainability Saudi Arabia and UAE back fishing subsidies ban The UAE and Saudi Arabia were the only GCC countries to back a failed bid by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to curb subsidies that contribute to overfishing and wider fishing sector overcapacity. It had been hoped that the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS), which, according to WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has “been on the […] March 4, 2024
Sustainability Turkey and Europe join up to promote carbon trading The European Energy Exchange (EEX) and Turkish energy bourse Enerji Piyasalari Isletme A.S (Epias) have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop carbon emissions trading in Turkey. “We look forward to working with Epias in creating a robust emissions trading system (ETS) in Turkey by providing our expertise in carbon markets,” said EEX chief executive […] February 29, 2024
Aviation Passengers pay for aviation’s sustainability shortcomings Penalties imposed on the aviation industry for failing to meet stringent sustainability targets will ultimately lead to higher air fares for passengers, according to an industry expert. “The customer is going to pay the extra cost,” said Wahab Teffaha, secretary general of the Arab Air Carriers’ Organization, speaking at the 11th annual Arab Aviation Summit […] February 29, 2024