The Arab countries cover ten percent of the world’s total land area and are home to 6% of the world's population, nevertheless they receive less than 2% of the world’s renewable water supply. With rapid population growth since the mid-1970s, this has caused dramatic contraction in per capita renewable water resources, from an average of 2,925 cubic meters per year in 1962 to 1,180 in 1992 and further to an alarming 743 in 2011, below...

The impacts of the invasion of Ukraine on agricultural exports and fertilizers, the food price hikes, the inflationary pressures, the unsustainable debt levels for many countries, and the possible global economic recession are severely impacting African economies and communities. In addition, the climate is changing, and Africa needs to adapt. It must adapt to rising temperatures, more extreme storms, and floods, rising sea levels, more intense heatwaves, and longer and more severe droughts. Yet though...

Climate-change impacts are mounting, and with them the need to advance on adaptation. Even if emission-reduction efforts succeed and the world meets the goal of holding average temperature increases to below 2°C, there are some changes already locked into universal systems that will have unavoidable consequences and therefore the need to adapt. Recent progress on adaptation and in particular in raising funds has slowed. Finance is critical to accelerating climate adaptation, but flows remain far...

Today, the world is at a turning point. COVID-19 is putting enormous pressure on each segment of a country's society and economy. For developing countries that were already facing major social, health and economic challenges before COVID-19, this pressure is particularly excruciating. The social and economic impacts of COVID-19 on developed and developing nations could be severe and long-lasting.

The attention of the world's energy sector is clearly focused on Russia and Ukraine, but the ongoing crisis in Lebanon warrants our collective attention. The situation is horrifying. Lebanon is being battered by a confluence of crises engulfing national security, politics and government, integrity in public office, the economy and banking sector, social unrest, energy instability and environmental degradation. Each is feeding off the others to create a storm rooted in Lebanon's failed economic, social,...

Africa is particularly vulnerable to these extreme impacts of climate change. It faces exponential collateral damage, posing systemic risks to its economies, infrastructure investments, water and food systems, public health, agriculture, and livelihoods, threatening to undo its hardfought development and reverse decades of economic progress. Rates of poverty are high, both among the millions of smallholder farmers and the large numbers of people who live in informal settlements with low access to basic services in...

The eventual end of armed conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen would normally be followed by a reconstruction phase, in which, energy is expected to be a priority. Access to energy is imperative for peace and ensuring a speedy economic recovery. Additionally, access to modern and sustainable energy services are indispensable to increasing productivity, creating enterprises, employment and incomes, and providing effective public services such as health, education and safe water.

In few weeks or months, the world will have to reconvene to forge a new chapter in humanity, I would call it the Post COVID-19 New World Configuration. It will be an historic moment: the ultimate test of global survival, globalization, and cooperation. Yet the building blocks toward this new World are proceeding so slowly that humanity is in grave danger. If we miss the opportunity to protect ourselves and our planet, there will be...

The current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050. By the same year, the World Energy Council (WEC) projects that the world’s energy demand will increase by 80% , adding the equivalent of China and India, driven primarily by growth in developing countries, which are expected to make up 65% of the world’s energy consumption, up from 54% as of 2010.

When some experts described the COVID-19 pandemic as the most dangerous global challenge since World War II, potentially overshadowing the 2008-2009 financial crisis- they were correct. Although disasters diverge in their causes and scope of impact, they are connected by the necessity for coordinated international, regional, national, and local responses. The world is on the verge of major economic recession and the impact on every country, rich or poor, will be tremendous unless early actions...

As the World becomes predominantly urban, cities are increasingly emerging as the center field where the main challenges for sustainable development and growth must be tackled. Globally, 55% of the population lives in urban areas today, and this trend is expected to continue by 2045, the number of people living in cities will increase by 1.5 times to 6 billion, adding 2 billion more urban residents. By 2050, 68% of the world’s population will be...

Climate change will have dire and severe impacts on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The International Panel on Climate Change estimates that the MENA region will be one of the world's regions hit hardest by climate change in the 21st century. Flash floods are being experienced more frequently, as well as storm surges along coastal zones. Extreme and extended periods of heat will transform both rural and urban areas, exposing cities to...

As world leaders prepare for another international Climate change conference later this year in Glasgow (the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties)1 and they continue to lay down the path of our clean energy future for generations to come, the world needs to shift its energy system to meet its climate targets. Our energy future will depend on going beyond traditional energy concept, sources and approaches and embrace a new energy security concept....

Both the public and the private sectors face challenges accessing capital and financing for climate resilience projects, as well as justifying the upfront costs. The term "resilient" refers to the ability of such infrastructure systems, including their interconnected ecosystems and social systems, to absorb disturbance and still retain their basic function and structural capacity.