Trade ministers from around the globe have been engaged in tough talks at the World Trade Organisation’s 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, where negotiations on a key fisheries subsidies deal will be a major focus. “They just started … we have to be cautiously optimistic because we have to push things forward,” Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State […]
While the UAE is lucky enough to enjoy almost endless sunshine, rainfall levels sometimes fall short of what would be ideal. This is despite sporadic spells of wet weather, such as experienced this week, which often occur in the winter months. As a result, the country has limited water resources and has invested heavily in desalination plants and put significant demands on aquifers, […]
The UN’s most senior climate official has said “torrents not trickles” of finance are needed if the world is to achieve its Cop goals. In a keynote speech in Baku, Azerbaijan, which will host the Cop29 UN Climate Conference in November, Simon Stiell said it will take an “Olympian effort” over the next two years to […]
Record heatwaves could take the world beyond the key 1.5°C global warming benchmark as soon as this decade – but that does not mean all hope is lost, the UN’s top climate scientist says. Jim Skea said it is “still technically possible” to meet the goal of curbing the global temperature rise to 1.5°C, staving off the worst […]
UAE climate researchers have secured a $1 million funding boost to support vital efforts to protect coral reefs against the impact of surging ocean temperatures. The key investment will enable the Mubadala Arabian Centre for Climate and Environmental Sciences, based at New York University Abu Dhabi, to carry out two years of work on a marine project focused […]
Azerbaijan will put pollution, water shortages and the need to help poorer countries get their hands on clean technology top of the agenda when it hosts Cop29 later this year, The National has been told. Taking place in Baku in November, the government wants to send a signal of peace to the region after an exchange of olive […]
In the early 90s, there was a saying among environmental researchers and contract engineers in Abu Dhabi that destroying even one mangrove leaf could land them in jail. It was a joke, but one that summed up the emirate’s deep commitment to mangrove conservation long before climate change and global warming were buzz words. Australian researcher Ronald Loughland, who moved to Abu […]
Groundwater is rapidly declining around the world, often at accelerating rates, the largest assessment of its kind involving almost 1,700 aquifers has shown. The three-year study by researchers at UC Santa Barbara found that groundwater is dropping in more than two thirds, or 71 per cent, of the aquifers – in three times as many times places as […]
As a data ecology analyst, Amna Alhemeiri, 24, is among those helping to protect the UAE’s treasured mangroves and ensure that they prosper. The plants, championed by the UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, are an iconic part of the country’s ecosystem and are viewed as crucial to the planet’s sustainability. Ms […]
More than 1.4 billion people around the world – including 450 million children – live in areas that face high or extremely high water vulnerability, the UN children’s agency said. As a result, finding new and reliable sources of water is important for many communities, especially as the world’s population increases and climate change causes more severe drought. While […]
