Negotiations to establish the first global plastics treaty faltered in Geneva on Friday, as delegates failed to reach consensus on critical treaty provisions to tackle pollution. The final hours saw entrenched positions over key areas – specifically plastic production caps, which had been a key issue that boiled over from last year’s failed talks in Korea. “It’s very […]
As a largely desert nation, the UAE may not strike some observers as an obvious candidate for cutting-edge polar research. However, a closer look at Tuesday’s announcement that the Emirates is to work closely with Finland in better understanding the Arctic reveals the value of experience and expertise forged in the arid climate of the […]
Dry storms are a curious meteorological phenomenon. The sky turns dark and thunders, but it doesn’t seem to rain. Imagine a storm that rumbles with thunder and intimidating lightning flashes, but not a single drop of rain falls. Dark clouds loom menacingly over a landscape already scorched by days of extreme heat, while lightning streaks […]
The Middle East Sustainability Forum has announced the launch of its fourth edition, taking place on 27–28 January 2026 at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the theme “Advancing Alignment, Innovation, and Implementation for Energy and Climate Transformation.” The forum will be held under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin […]
Insuring an electric car in the UAE has become much more costly, after last year’s record floods, but industry experts believe the future remains bright for the vehicle segment as sales increase. Insurancemarket.ae, one of the country’s leading providers, said insuring an electric vehicle on average costs 72 per cent more on average than a petrol or diesel-powered […]
Researchers have demonstrated a new eco-friendly plastic that decomposes in deep ocean conditions. In a deep-sea experiment, the microbially synthesized poly(d-lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) (LAHB) biodegraded, while conventional plastics such as a representative bio-based polylactide (PLA) persisted. Submerged 855 meters (~2,800 feet) underwater, LAHB films lost over 80% of their mass after 13 months as microbial biofilms actively […]
Last month was the third-hottest July on record, prompting warnings from climate experts over the stark dangers of searing summer heatwaves across the globe. Scorching temperatures reached 1.25°C above pre-industrial levels, lower only than the two hottest July’s in Earth in the previous two years. The latest report from EU’s climate watchdog Copernicus has shown that the planet’s […]
New findings from studying over two decades of satellite observations reveal that the Earth’s continents have experienced unprecedented freshwater loss since 2002, driven by climate change, unsustainable groundwater use and extreme droughts. The study, led by Arizona State University and published on July 25 in Science Advances, highlights the emergence of four continental-scale “mega-drying” regions, all located in […]
Syria’s drought crisis is deepening in 2025, marked not only by low rain but by a systemic unravelling of the country’s water cycle, experts have found. A new report released by the Mercy Corps Syria Crisis Analysis Team said that in many regions of the country, “water shortages are becoming longer, more severe and increasingly […]
Extreme heat, deadly floods and widespread wildfires hit Europe in July, despite the end of a record-breaking global temperature streak. This July was the third warmest on record globally, according to the latest data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). It was 0.27°C cooler than the warmest July in 2023 and 0.23°C cooler […]
