In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95 billion. The year 2024 was marked by extreme temperature events in Asia that caused thousands of deaths, severe droughts in Africa affecting over 25 …
Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
In a world of higher electricity demand growth, clean electricity is stepping up to the challenge. Spearheaded by exponential solar expansion, clean power is set to grow faster than demand, marking the start of a permanent decline in fossil generation. 2024 both clarified and consolidated the shape of the global …
This white paper examines the current challenges for clean energy infrastructure and identifies solutions that industrial clusters, transport and logistics industries, and the wider clean energy value chain can jointly explore in order to accelerate its deployment. Thirteen new industrial clusters from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, …
The report finds it is unlikely that India – or indeed other countries – will be able to overtake the Gulf region to provide the world’s cheapest solar power in the near term. Recent record-low tariffs in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the result of lower cost …
On 21 July 2020 the Water Tribunal upheld an appeal by groundWork of a water use licence granted to the proposed Khanyisa coal-fired independent power producer owned by ACWA. On 21 July 2020 the Water Tribunal upheld groundWork’s appeal to set aside the Water Use Licence, due to lack of …
Women, Business and the Law 2020 tracks how the law affects women at various stages in their lives, from the basics of transportation to the challenges of starting a job and getting a pension. This year’s study shows that progress is being made, with all regions improving their average scores. …
At least 12 people have been killed as heavy rain wreaked havoc in Saudi Arabia this week, according to the kingdom’s civil defence authority. The heavy downpours hit mainly the western and northwestern parts of the country close to the border with Jordan. Ten people died in the northwestern city …
OSLO (Reuters) - Almost 16,000 desalination plants worldwide produce bigger-than-expected flows of highly salty waste water and toxic chemicals that are damaging the environment, a U.N.-backed study said on Monday. Desalination plants pump out 142 million cubic meters (5 billion cubic feet) of salty brine every day, 50 percent more …
Global demand for fossil fuels will peak in 2023, an influential thinktank has predicted, posing a significant risk to financial markets because trillions of dollars’ worth of oil, coal and gas assets could be left worthless. Explosive growth in wind and solar will combine with action on climate change and …
President Cyril Ramaphosa has characterised his State Visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a remarkable success, as he had positive and fruitful official talks with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, the Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during his …
Saudi Arabia has banned imports of frozen and processed fruit and vegetable from Kerala in the wake of the outbreak of Nipah virus (NiV) in the state. Nipah virus has so far claimed 16 lives in Kerala. Late last month, another Gulf nation the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had banned …
Softbank Group has announced a $200bn (£141bn) investment to create the world's biggest solar power project in Saudi Arabia through its Vision Fund private equity arm. The Japanese conglomerate’s chief executive, Masayoshi Son, told reporters on Tuesday that the planned project is expected to have the capacity to produce up …
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has joined a UN-sponsored international decade to safeguard and improve the world’s water supplies. The “Action Water for Sustainable Development” decade was adopted by the General Assembly in December 2016 and begins this year. It will help focus attention on global water security during the next 10 …
OIL shaped the 20th century. In war, the French leader Georges Clemenceau said, petroleum was “as vital as blood”. In peace the oil business dominated stockmarkets, bankrolled despots and propped up the economies of entire countries. But the 21st century will see oil’s influence wane. Cheap natural gas, renewable energy, …
Amsterdam – A shift has occurred in the MENA region over the past 30 years, seeing chronic diseases take more lives than their infectious counterparts. This same shift is taking place in developing areas across the world where the rate of death by infectious diseases has begun to decrease, thanks …
JEDDAH: The Ministry of the Environment, Water and Agriculture aims to plant 4 million trees in the Kingdom by 2020, its undersecretary for environmental affairs, Osama bin Ibrahim Faqiha, told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). In a workshop organized by the ministry with the participation of agriculture officials, he said …
To be able to curb the global pandemic of physical inactivity and the associated 5.3 million deaths per year, we need to understand the basic principles that govern physical activity. However, there is a lack of large-scale measurements of physical activity patterns across free-living populations worldwide. Here we leverage the …
NEW YORK, April 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Saudi Arabian charitable foundation said on Monday it will give $50 million to the United Nations children's agency to help eliminate measles, the largest private donation ever to UNICEF's efforts. The donation by Riyadh-based Alwaleed Philanthropies comes amid rising concern about …
In a major move to boost cooperation in oil sector, Saudi Aramco signed an agreement with Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas here on Tuesday. The deal will allow Aramco’s equity participation in Petronas, which is developing a high-tech $27 billion oil processing hub in southern Johor state bordering Singapore. King …
The world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, is apparently mulling over as much as $5 billion in renewable energy investments as part of plans to diversify from crude oil production, according to people with knowledge on the matter. According to various reports, Saudi Arabia’s national petroleum and natural gas company, …
