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Sustainability

Sustainability and environmental business news from the Middle East. All the important stories, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Sustainability overview

Sustainability news

Electric bikes Video length: 04:59

Gulf’s cheap petrol slows take-up of electric bikes

Almost 20 percent of the new cars sold this year are electric, according to the International Energy Agency, while e-bikes are becoming a familiar sight in cities around the world. The Middle East is behind China, the US and Europe on mass adoption, despite the lower operating costs and lower emissions of electric vehicles (EVs). […]

Car, Transportation, Vehicle

BlackRock to invest $400m in Dubai decarbonisation firm 

BlackRock, one of the largest fund managers in the world, has agreed to invest up to $400 million in the Dubai-based decarbonisation business Positive Zero through a diversified infrastructure fund. The investment will help Positive Zero boost energy transition projects in Gulf countries to aid in reducing carbon emissions and limit global temperature rise to […]

Young West African activists demanding action on climate change

Doha-based carbon credit group signs West Africa deal

The Qatar-backed international carbon credit programme Global Carbon Council (GCC) has signed a deal to develop decarbonisation projects in West Africa. The Doha-based GCC signed the agreement at the UN climate conference Cop28 in Dubai last week with the West African Alliance for Carbon Markets and Climate Finance (WAA), a group of 16 West African […]

Eviq has opened its first EV charging research and development facility in Riyadh

PIF-backed Eviq plans to deploy 5,000 EV chargers

Saudi Arabia has opened its first research and development facility to establish the country’s electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging infrastructure. Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company (Eviq) – the newly launched joint venture between the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Saudi Electricity Company – opened the facility in Riyadh. The company is on track to deploy 5,000 chargers […]

Arabic women with abaya bonding and having fun outdoors - Happy middleastern female friends with traditional muslim dresses meeting and talking while shopping sustainable clothing

Retailers wear the cost of sustainable process in UAE

Retailers in the UAE are shouldering the financial burden of adopting sustainable practices to stay competitive, but policy reforms are needed to back their long-term environmental goals, an executive of the Gulf’s largest clothing company has said. Gaps in existing regulations include a lack of sufficient incentives, tax breaks and a comprehensive framework to enable […]

Abu Dhabi's Jubail Mangrove National Park features several kilometres of walkways

Why the UAE is focusing on mangrove conservation

A crab scuttles across the mud, side-stepping exposed mangrove roots until it dips into a hole, as a western reef heron perches between sprouting seedlings.  Another comes along and the scene is repeated across Abu Dhabi’s Jubail Mangrove National Park, where people are meandering along a 2km boardwalk on a December morning.  An hour away, […]

Halving emissions from the UAE's buildings is going to be a challenge, according to Mubadala subsidiary Solutions+

Mubadala unit banks on decarbonising buildings

The UAE has set a target of reducing emissions in its building sector by 56 percent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. This is part of the country’s broader efforts to slash emissions by 40 percent by the end of the current decade.  However, it is going to be difficult for the UAE to reach […]

Turkey's green fund will provide financing to businesses, promote investment in green technologies and diversify the financial sector Turkey green fund

Turkey sets up green fund with $155m World Bank loan

Turkey has set up its first green venture capital fund to support its target of net zero by 2053. The Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB) has secured a $155 million loan from the World Bank for the Turkey Green Fund (TGF). The financing was secured under the Turkish ministry of treasury and finance guarantee, TSKB said in […]

Cop28 agriculture UAE

Cop28 funds pave the way for Mena agricultural innovation

In 2022 Morocco suffered its worst drought in 40 years. It had a devastating impact on agricultural productivity – the country’s cereal production plunged by 60 percent and 280,000 jobs were lost. Thousands of miles to the east, motorists on the main road from the UAE to Oman see dead and dying palm trees on […]

Red Sea Global is currently monitoring some 300 reef sites, rescuing corals through relocation

Saudi developer vows to protect Red Sea corals

Red Sea Global (RSG), the developer of the Red Sea and Amaala mega tourism projects, has announced its “coral commitment” to protect and regenerate corals in the Red Sea. The multi-layered programme was revealed at a side event during the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai. “The Red Sea has some of the most stunning and […]

An Emirates Airlines Boeing 777-300ER takes on sustainable aviation fuel at Dubai airport

UAE sets sustainable aviation fuel targets

The UAE is aiming to have sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) account for at least 1 percent of the total fuel supplied at airports in the Gulf state by 2031, according to a new government ruling. The Guideline on Sustainable Aviation Fuel says the country hopes to produce 700 million litres annually by 2030, according to […]

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum hosts the Space Agencies Leaders' Summit at Cop28 Video length: 06:07

Space data joins the battle against greenwashing

Space data is a vital tool for measuring decarbonisation and preventing greenwashing, an industry expert has told AGBI at the Cop28 conference in Dubai. “There is no other way to monitor [decarbonisation and carbon credits] at that scale if it wasn’t for Earth observation data,” said David Merren, assistant director for analytics and spatial at […]

Cop28 Director General Majid Al Suwaidi talks to the media regarding progress on the Cop28 global stocktake

Cop28 denies ‘favouritism’ in fossil fuel wording

The UN climate talks in Dubai stretched past the Tuesday morning deadline set as tensions mounted over a deal that departed from committing to a phase-out of fossil fuels.  The latest draft of the global stocktake sparked fury from climate activists and politicians last night. Majid Al Suwaidi, director-general of Cop28, told a press conference […]

Visitors view Rio Tinto's 34MW solar farm at its Gudai-Darri iron ore plant. Western Australia is home to much of the country's mining, steel and fossil fuels industry

Western Australia looks to Gulf for green deals

The state of Western Australia – the heart of the country’s mining, steel and oil and gas industries – is planning partnerships with Arab nations to develop its renewables sector and curb emissions.  “We’ve got a dual mission,” Reece Whitby, Western Australia’s minister for environment and climate action, told AGBI during Cop28 in Dubai.  “We’ve […]

Dan Company's first project will be located in Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahsa region and will cover 1.8 million sq m

PIF’s new tourism venture aims to contribute $1.6bn

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has launched Dan Company, which aims to develop agricultural and eco-tourism projects across the kingdom. The company’s first project will be located in the Al-Ahsa region and will cover 1.8 million sq m, featuring an eco-resort, an agri-resort and an adventure resort. The company is expected to contribute nearly […]

Recyclable plastics being sorted at a facility in Dubai. The UAE is imposing a nationwide ban on single-use plastics

UAE considers a tax on packaging to fund recycling

The UAE is considering introducing a tax on packaging, according to an industry expert, as the country continues to ramp up its sustainability agenda. Ali Al Dhaheri, CEO of Abu Dhabi Waste Management Company, or Tadweer, told AGBI that discussions with the UAE government were taking place about bringing in an extended producer responsibility (EPR) […]