Environment and nature

Residents of the city of Gabes carry placards during a demonstration on Oct. 15, 2025, to demand the closure of chemical factories.

Over 200 hospitalized in Tunisia’s Gabes as anger over pollution crisis grows

President Kais Saied is facing one of his biggest challenges yet as demands for the closure of the city’s phosphate processing plant increase.

SABUR RASHID/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Drought-stricken Iraq sends delegation to Turkey to discuss water cooperation

Turkey recently agreed to release more water to Iraq amid the drought in the country, indicating improving coordination on resource management after years of tensions over Turkish dams.

Residents of the village of Shatha watch as a wildfire rages on the nearby hills, in the western Hama countryside in west-central Syria on Aug. 15, 2025.

Wildfires ravage Syria’s Latakia for 4th day in row: What to know

A Syrian official recently said that 2025 has been the driest year in decades, as wildfires persist along the coast, and the response is being hindered by the effects of the war.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi greets his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in Cairo, Sept. 23, 2025.

Egypt’s Sisi talks water security with Rwanda's president in wake of Ethiopia’s megadam debut

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Cairo to discuss coordination efforts and developments in the Nile Basin region following Ethiopia’s inauguration of its controversial dam.

Latest News

Over 1,000 dead in Darfur landslide as Sudan war hinders relief efforts

People inspect the debris following a landslide that devastated the village of Tarasin, in Sudan's Jebel Marra area, on Sept. 2, 2025.

Tehran’s dams at 19% as Iran water crisis worsens: What to know

The Amir Kabir dam and its outflow along the Karaj River in Iran's northern Alborz mountain range are pictured on June 1, 2025.

Culture

Saudi Arabia’s falcon auction aims to spin tradition into tourism gold

Visitors at the first night of the International Falcon Breeders Auction 2025 in Malham city on Aug. 5, 2025.

Iran to close public offices as temperatures pass 105 F: What to know

An Iranian taxi driver cools down by splashing water on his face on a street amid soaring temperatures in Tehran on July 22, 2025.

Bradley D’coutho

Israel, Jordan sign first environmental agreement at COP27

The environmental agreement signed yesterday between Israel and Jordan is the first such development ever between the two countries.

A woman takes a photo of a display at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Center during the COP27 climate conference, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 15, 2022.

Middle East startups rise to challenges of climate change

With COP27 underway in Egypt, climate adaptation startups in the Middle East and North Africa work to create new platforms in the face of the urgent action required to combat climate change.

Israel's Ministry for Environmental Protection

Israeli environment minister strives for regional cooperation at COP27

Outgoing Minister for Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg calls on the new Israeli government not to give in to small politics, but continue engagement to battling climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing plastic pollution.

C0P27

Israel, Jordan, UAE press ahead on deal for water, solar energy

Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have inked a memorandum of understanding to speed progress on a deal to exchange solar energy for desalinated water.

Hadeer Shalaby, the founder of the Green Fashion Initiative, appears with models of green recycled clothing.

Culture

Egypt to present sustainable fashion project at COP27

Green Fashion, a start-up environmental and social initiative, will be showcasing its ideas at the COP27 that Egypt will be hosting.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Religious leaders talk climate action in Israel ahead of COP27

At the initiative of the foreign ministry, Jewish, Christian, Druze, Bahai and Muslim leaders gathered in Jerusalem, in a joint call to act against climate change.

Egyptian activicts Mohamed Adel (L), Ahmed Douma (C) and Ahmed Maher (R) stand in the accused dock during their trial on December 22, 2013 in the capital Cairo. An Egyptian court sentenced three activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail for organising an unlicensed protest, judicial sources said. It was the first such verdict against non-Islamist protesters since the overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi in July, and was seen by rights groups as part of a wideni

Ahead of COP27, Democrats push Biden to confront Egypt on human rights

A group of lawmakers want President Joe Biden to use the climate conference to press Egypt for improvements in its dire human rights record.

Saudi Miniser of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud addresses delegates during the 2021 climate summit, Glasgow, Ireland, Nov. 10, 2021.

Saudi Arabia offers green bonds in push toward net zero

While the move signals that the kingdom understands the global trends toward "green," its impact on climate action will require further steps.

Sponge city in China, July 18, 2018.

Culture

Sponge cities could be solution for UAE amid extreme weather events

Experts believe that sponge cities could help countries in the Arab Gulf region cope with extreme weather events caused by climate change, including heavy rainfalls and the ensuing floods.

A general view shows a palm field suffering from desertification on Oct. 27, 2016, near Morocco's southeastern oasis town of Erfoud.

Egypt plans to launch first satellite to monitor climate change in Africa

In the lead-up to the COP27 scheduled to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh in November and in partnership with China, Egypt plans to launch its first satellite specialized in the monitoring of climate changes in Africa.

Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud (L) and UAE's Minister of State and special envoy for climate change Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber.

Saudi Arabia to hold green forums in conjunction with COP27

Saudi Arabia will hold in November the second editions of the Middle East Green Initiative and Saudi Green Initiative summits in Sharm el-Sheikh, on the sidelines of the COP27, in what reflects the growing interest of regional countries to address the effects of climate change.

Israeli Foreign Minister and alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid meets with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry at Tahrir Palace, Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 9, 2021.

In rare visit to Egypt, Israel’s Lapid to attend COP27 climate summit

The COP27 in Egypt will be launched a week after the general elections in Israel, but Prime Minister Yair Lapid intends to participate in the conference whatever the outcome of the vote.