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Middle East/Environment

 2 min read

Environment
A man walks on a deserted road during a spring sandstorm in Iraq's capital city Baghdad on May 5, 2022.

Iraq closes airports, public buildings due to heavy sandstorms

A giant dust cloud leaves Baghdad’s streets deserted

 4 min read

Environment
A woman walks past a tree on a narrow pavement that replaced a huge garden in Cairo, Egypt, February 14, 2022.

Egypt to issue new climate targets ahead of UN summit

'It is helpful for (Egypt) to get the ball rolling and set an important marker for what countries need to do'

 3 min read

Environment
This file handout satellite image obtained courtesy of Maxar Technologies on July 19, 2020 shows an overview of the FSO Safer oil tanker on June 19, 2020 off the Yemeni port of Ras Isa.

Donors pledge $33m to stop 'catastrophic' Yemen oil spill

'We need to work quickly to get the remaining funds to start the four-month operation'

 2 min read

Environment
A woman and a boy walk on the dried up riverbed of the Zayandeh Roud river that no longer runs under the 400-year-old Si-o-seh Pol bridge, named for its 33 arches, in Isfahan, Iran, July 10, 2018.

Iran slams Turkey's upstream dam-building activity

'Turkey's construction of dams on the border waters is unacceptable and we oppose it'

 3 min read

Environment
This file handout satellite image obtained courtesy of Maxar Technologies on July 19, 2020 shows a closeup view of the FSO Safer oil tanker on June 19, 2020 off the Yemeni port of Ras Isa.

UN: 'Imminent' Yemen oil spill would cost $20b to clean up

'The impact of a spill will be catastrophic,' Gressly warns

 3 min read

Environment
A man walks on a deserted road during a spring sandstorm in Iraq's capital city Baghdad on May 5, 2022.

Iraq sandstorm sends over 1,000 to hospital

Iraq, with its low rainfall and high temperatures, is particularly vulnerable to climate change

 2 min read

Environment
A man on a wheelchair makes his way through flood waters after heavy rains at the old section of Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 24, 2022.

Afghanistan: At least 18 dead, over 100 homes destroyed in floods

Latest deluges hit the provinces of Faryab and Parwan, as well as various other regions

 3 min read

Environment
An underwater view of Posidonia oceanica seagrass in the Mediterranean Sea, on June 24, 2015.

'Lungs of the Mediterranean' at risk

'Posidonia oceanica... is one of the most important sources of oxygen provided to coastal waters'

 4 min read

Environment
A pond remains at the dried-up Sawa Lake in Iraq's southern Muthana province, on April 19, 2022.

Overuse and climate change kill off Iraq's Sawa Lake

Sawa Lake, once a biodiverse wetland popular with Iraqi families, is now a barren wasteland with piles of salt

 3 min read

Environment
A 10-week old Persian leopard cub is presented to the public for the first time by staff at the Budapest Zoo in Budapest, Hungary, on November 18, 2021.

Iraq: Conservationists fight to save endangered leopards

Ahmed says 'We have to save them, they are part of our culture and identity'

 3 min read

Environment
A local farmer speaks in a palm and olive grove in the "green belt" area of Iraq's central city of Karbala, on March 21, 2022.

Iraq: 'Green belt' project neglected as climate fight falters

al-Khazali blames 'lack of interest from the central government and local authorities'

 3 min read

Environment
A handout picture provided by Tunisia's Defense Ministry on April 17, 2022, shows the sunken Xelo fuel vessel off the Gulf of Gabes, in southeastern Tunisia.

States offer to help Tunisia limit harm after fuel ship sinks

'The situation is reassuring and under control, and no leakage of gas oil has been recorded'

 2 min read

Environment
Vehicles drive along the underpass under Tahrir Square in the center of Iraq's capital Baghdad during a dust storm on April 12, 2022.

Dust storm covers Iraq for second time in a week

'People have been hospitalized with breathing difficulties, but most cases are minor'

 2 min read

Environment
A man performs a ritual in the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 15, 2022.

Iraqis work to clean neglected, polluted Tigris River

'In Iraq, five million cubic meters of waste are dumped daily into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers'

 3 min read

Environment
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during a panel discussion at the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 3, 2021.

IMF: Climate disasters threaten economic growth in Middle East

Georgieva warns that 'the list of disasters is quickly getting longer'

 3 min read

Environment
A picture taken on March 4, 2022 shows a view of the Al-Heswa natural reserve in Yemen's southern city of Aden.

Yemen war turns nature reserve back into waste dump

Al-Heswa Wetland Protected Area left in ruins by country's civil war

 3 min read

Environment
Said Mohamed al-Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) speaks during a press conference in Dubai on June 2, 2016.

DEWA calls for attendance at first-ever MENA climate week

The conference aims to 'explore climate opportunities and challenges'

 3 min read

Environment
Israeli president Isaac Herzog speaks during a ceremony announcing the winners of the Wolf Foundation award, at the president residence in Jerusalem, on February 8, 2022.

Israel’s Herzog calls for a ‘Renewable Middle East’

'The climate crisis is a crisis for the whole world, and we in the Middle East must understand it'

 3 min read

Environment
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and the United States climate envoy John Kerry (L) hold a joint press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on February 21, 2022.

US, Egypt launch joint climate working group

'It means delivering on existing commitments, strengthening commitments... and creating new commitments'

 2 min read

Environment
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speaks at the US Forest Service Del Rosa fire station in San Bernardino, California, US, on January 21, 2022.

Funding goal doubled for US-UAE climate change initiative

Vilsack says that 'President Biden believes we should get $8 billion by COP27'

 3 min read

Environment
Smog obscures the view from the Saad Abad mountain north of the Iranian capital Tehran with high levels of air pollution, on January 13, 2021.

World Bank: Pollution costs Middle East, North Africa $141b annually

The Mediterranean is one of the most plastic-polluted seas in the world, the World Bank says

 3 min read

Environment
Said Mohamed al-Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) speaks during a press conference in Dubai on June 2, 2016.

Media office: Dubai aims to cut carbon emissions 30% by 2030

The council says the plans will 'support the UAE’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050'

 3 min read

Environment
An olive farm is pictured on February 22, 2020 in Erbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region.

Iraq: Olive farmers look to solar power for green energy

Ahmad says 'what we are now witnessing is a gradual culture shift, and a greater acceptance' of green energy

 2 min read

Environment
This file photo dated 13 June 2004 shows the Kirkuk-Turkey pipeline, Iraq's main oil export artery being repaired, in Kirkuk, Iraq.

Oil flow resumes in Iraq-Turkey pipeline after blast

The pipeline carries crude oil from Iraq's Kurdistan region for export from Turkey's port of Ceyhan