After years of regular reduction in the number of cases and deaths, cholera is on the rise again — and climate change is contributing to the increase. As climate change’s effects intensify, cholera cases are spiking. The number of people annually affected by the disease is estimated to be between 1.3 and 4 million. However, if...
Responding to a pledge by the hosts of the COP28 climate meeting to make ‘space available for climate activists to assemble peacefully and make their voices heard’, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The fact that the hosts of this crucial climate meeting felt the need to...
The biggest oil producer in the United Arab Emirates is buying a stake in a natural gas field in Azerbaijan, marking the company’s first major international purchase of upstream hydrocarbon assets. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. agreed to buy a 30% equity stake in the Absheron gas field in the Caspian Sea, the government-owned firm...
Mohammed bin Zayed has managed to avoid pushback as he charts an independent course. But that quality may be fraying at the edges. The United Arab Emirates resembles US ‘Teflon President’ Ronald Reagan. Congresswoman Pat Schroeder awarded Mr. Reagan the label because nothing stuck to him while he was president in the 1980s — not...
At the beginning of 2000s, as concerns about climate change grew, some of the biggest oil companies began to modify their climate change public relations strategies. Instead of denying the evidence to sow doubt, they decided to try and spin their actions in more of a positive light. To try and co-opt the debate. They learnt their...
We’re living in a pivotal moment in history, on the cusp of either sinking into a dark period of growing poverty, accelerating ecological destruction, and worsening conflict, or moving forward to a new age of equity, sustainability, and stewardship of the only planet in the universe where we know life exists. I believe a positive...
Even as war rages in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Russians are eyeing popular holiday destinations for a summer break — or even a safe haven to wait out the conflict. While a weaker ruble and growing economic woes means many ordinary families will be spending the warmer months on their dachas or taking a...
After Russia launched its attack on Ukraine last year, Iran was one of a few countries to support Moscow’s position and goals. The two countries also shared a battlefield in Syria for years, helping prop up Bashar al Assad’s regime, with air strikes and boots on the ground. But that close partnership is being tested,...
A comprehensive list of “touchy and sensitive issues” for the United Arab Emirates, which is running the next UN climate summit, has been revealed in a document leaked to the Guardian. The document sets out the government-approved “strategic messages” to be used in response to media requests about the issues, which range from the UAE’s increasing...
COP28 is expected to be full of contradictions. And this new declaration by the Emirati organizers is not going to change that. The United Arab Emirates certified on Tuesday, August 1st, that they will allow environmental defenders to “peacefully gather” at the UN climate conference, organized in November in Dubai. However, unauthorized demonstrations are formally...