Habari Post

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, recently spoke in Dubai Maritime City to urge continued focus on energy-efficient building and other climate-friendly investment. "I’d like to see the Middle East investing for the post-petroleum future," he said.

Following ongoing pressure from organizations like Human Rights Watch, the government of Dubai has instituted a series of reforms to protect the basic working conditions for immigrant workers. Enforcing the reforms has yet to be figured out and neighboring gulf countries are quite a bit further behind the curve.

Dubai continues to grow at a stunning rate, adding infrastructure, hotels and business complexes. Emirati cities Dubai and Abu Dhabi are growing at such a high rate of growth that locals are experiencing serious growing pains, such as an increased cost of living without an increase in disposable income.

United Arab Emirates is known for its oil. Can it also be known as a green country? This is a story about the UAE's most recent effort to build a city that, once built, will be run entirely by renewable energy. So, what is the motivation?

There is often talk about using nuclear power to desalinate seawater in the Middle East (http://www.arabenvironment.net/archive/2007/10/341216.html). Desalination may be necessary, but nuclear plants may not be.

The Economist compares oil revenues of today in Gulf countries with the 1970s. A number of large projects aimed at drawing attention and growing the economy are underway in Saudi Arabia.

According to this item http://www.dubaicityguide.com/geninfo/news_dtls.asp?newsid=12330 renewable energy technologies will be one of the topics to be discussed at the 5th WTA Techno-Mart in Dubai from 14th to16th April.

"Earth Hour" is a rolling global voluntary one-hour blackout on March 29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour). In some places people participated but didn't really affect electricity use (http://www.stuff.co.nz/4457620a11.html). But in Dubai there was a significant reduction in electricity demand.

The over 40 leaders from Muslim countries meeting in Dakar, Senegal wrapped a two-day summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) last Friday.

Professor Geoffrey Boulton of the University of Edinburgh has developed a study of the affect global warming will have on the Middle East.

The study found the four largest carbon emitters per capita in the Gulf to be the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, with the UAE leading the way.

"The Century City" project in Tunisia is a joint investment of Sama Dubai, the property unit of Dubai Holding, and the Tunisian government. It is a $14 billion luxury real estate development north of Tunis, known by some as "The Century City".

Heads of state and representatives of over 40 Muslim nations gathered today in Dakar, Senegal for the Eleventh Session of the Islamic Summit Conference.