AFED: 4th Annual Conference

Meeting from 27-28 October, participants at the 4th Annual Conference of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) agreed on recommendations calling on Arab governments to, inter alia:
- give higher priority to environmentally-sustainable agriculture and rural development as a strategic policy objective to achieve food security;
- introduce a policy shift towards water demand management;
- adopt national and regional strategies for energy efficiency;
- promote the development of private sector-led locally-based competitive green technology through economic incentives; and
- promote public awareness campaigns on green economy.

Arab Region Input to Rio+20

The UNCSD (Rio+20) Arab Regional Preparatory Meeting approved recommendations during sessions on 16-17 October in Cairo (Egypt).
Meeting Website
IISD RS Meeting Coverage

Arab League: Desertification and Biodiversity MEAs

The Secretariat of the League of Arab States organized the meeting of the "Arab Working Group on the implementation of biodiversity and desertification related [MEAs]," from 25-27 September. Participants heard reports on work over the past year, as well as proposals from the MEAs about plans for their future activities relevant to the region.

Ramsar Press Release

2010 Arab MDG Report

UNDP, ESCWA and the League of Arab States have launched the "Third Arab Report on the Millennium Development Goals 2010 and the Impact of the Economic Crisis." With regards to environmental issues, the report inter alia indicates that while the Arab region as a whole only contributes about 5% of the global carbon dioxide emissions, the impacts of climate change on the region are of major concern to policy makers due to its dependence on climate-sensitive agriculture, as well as the concentration of population and economic activity in flood-prone urban coastal zones.