1. MIDDLE EAST: A new front in the battle against climate change opens, slowly (ClimateWire, 10/31/2008)

Christa Marshall, ClimateWire reporter

Not everyone is thrilled with how some Middle Eastern countries are handling climate change, and the dissenters aren't being quiet.

In a recent interview, a Jordan-based environmentalist said that Masdar, a planned "carbon-neutral" city in the United Arab Emirates, is more about publicity than about helping the environment. The proposed car-free enclave in Abu Dhabi, slated for completion in 2016, envisions electric vehicles ferrying 40,000 commuters and providing homes for another 50,000 residents in a 2.5-square-mile space, with wind, solar and geothermal energy turning on the lights.

"It's too much money for too few people. We could spend the same billions to build large solar factories," said Munqeth Mehyar, the chairman of Friends of the Earth Middle East. "Some good may come from it, but the whole thing is very controversial."

Mehyar spoke in Jordan last week at the "Eco-Cities of the Mediterranean" conference, one of a growing number of networking events in the Middle East allowing freewheeling discussion between politicians, business owners and others who worry about global warming and the environment. In a region often criticized for stifling open exchange of ideas, it's a welcome atmosphere for many.

Artist's rendering of the Masdar Initiative's planned zero-emission city in the United Arab Emirates. The project is being designed by the famed architect Norman Foster's firm, Foster + Partners. Courtesy of Masdar Initiative.

The "Eco-Cities" event, held at a Dead Sea resort, was sponsored by the Jordanian government in conjunction with nongovernmental groups such as the U.N. Industrial Development Organization. It was attended by the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and hundreds of officials from around the world.

The conference followed the recent creation of an "Arab Climate Alliance" to prepare a working paper at global warming negotiations in Poznan, Poland, later this year.

A few weeks ago, there was a separate Beirut workshop on climate change at which environmental advocates pressed Arab leaders to forge an agreement to make sure the Middle East is not forgotten in any framework replacing the Kyoto Protocol, a pact calling on signing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

"We need to re-educate politicians in the Middle East. How often is their debate about sustainable development of the future?" asked Frans Evers, Chairman of the Network of European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils.

Many "Eco-Cities" attendees openly criticized the Jordanian government and hotel industry for allowing construction of a string of water-hungry resorts along the Dead Sea. The sea's level is already shrinking by more than a meter a year under agricultural and population pressure. Under climate change projections, the process could speed up.

Learning to make a profit while being green

In another sign of lively debate, some at the conference also took a different view than Mehyar on Masdar, making the point that building the city was worthwhile because of what engineers and scientists would learn from the project. In order to ultimately build sustainable cities for millions, developers would have to start small and work out all the kinks, they said.

Abu Dhabi's leaders have said they hope Masdar will help build a new domestic economic sector "built on energy innovation and intellectual property."

"One thing we will learn is how to make a profit while being green at the same time," said Christopher Drew, a sustainability manager for Masdar. He emphasized that people in conventional cities emit 1.1. million tons of C02 on average, whereas Masdar plans to have negative emissions per capita. The city will get almost 78 percent of its power from solar energy and will recycle all its water, although at a per capita investment price of roughly $500,000.

Yet much of the focus at "Eco-Cities" and at other conferences in the Middle East has been on less sophisticated projects, particularly with the ongoing squeeze on the water supply.

With agriculture gobbling up a large amount of water to feed crops that often can be imported cheaply, governments are starting to ponder how to transform their food distribution chain, particularly as global warming forecasts predict severe droughts in some areas. (ClimateWire, Oct. 20).

Transportation, tourism and agriculture -- a tough balancing act

Transportation is another ongoing problem, with cars and trucks accounting for about a quarter of the region's greenhouse gas emissions. Jordan eliminated leaded gasoline just this year, and five other countries in the area still spew out this damaging pollutant through tailpipes. It's not uncommon to drive on highways outside of Amman and other Middle Eastern cities and see visible clouds of black smoke coming from cars, despite existing laws.

"Developing countries are getting secondhand cars from around the world," said Mary Kimotho M'Mukindia, a program officer at the U.N. Environment Programme. She said this hand-me-down process is causing greenhouse gas emissions in countries like Jordan to be much greater than they would be otherwise.

According to a new report from the economics research arm of the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., the Middle East will account for 11 percent of energy demand by 2020 in developing countries.

Even so, many say that the region should focus more on dealing with climate change rather than stopping it, considering that most global greenhouse gas emissions still come from the United States and China. As one panelist put it, it would take more than 20 planets to sustain humanity if every global citizen had the same carbon footprint as the average U.S. resident.

Egypt, for example, contributes less than 1 percent of the world's carbon dioxide, but is expected to experience some of the worst impacts of climate change. Last year, the World Bank reported that millions could be forced from their homes because of potential global-warming-induced sea rise, which could flood the Nile River delta.

That, in turn, could prevent the country from feeding itself, since areas surrounding the Egyptian river provides most of the nation's arable and residential land.

Debating what was once undebatable

Aware of the forecasts, many officials are starting to talk about proactively moving people away from flood-prone areas, putting high fees on water usage and building more renewable projects, like a planned Israeli solar plant in the Negev Desert. Saudi Arabia is pumping $500 billion into a series of proposed cities that will apply LEED standards, which cut building emissions via their design.

Private business owners from poorer countries also are showing up at the new conferences to gain outside advice for their ideas. Among others, Egyptian Rawya Mansour, founder of the interior design company RAMSCO, wants to transform the Nile's waste into energy and build sustainable "eco-villages."

For Mehyar, a big hope is that the uptick in meetings will get people talking to each other who have been at odds, allowing the region to speak with one voice in international negotiations. Within the government of Jordan, for example, he said, the ministers of agriculture, tourism and environment need to have more transparent discussions and not bicker.

It's not an easy task, he said, since two of the agencies are looking out for the same hotel managers and farmers who Mehyar said could get pinched if the Ministry of Environment cracks down on water usage. It's a situation not unique to Jordan, but a political stalemate that needs to be turned around immediately, according to Mehyar.

"I'm terrified about what is coming with climate change," he said. "All indications are that we're going in the wrong direction."

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