Here’s a very sneaky peek of my article on the environmental  and also human rights implications of throwaway fashion. I wrote the article for Aquila Style Magazine in the wake of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh which left over a 1,000 people (mostly Muslim women) dead. To read the full article, download the online magazine for a couple of dollars here.

Here’s my latest piece for DW. It’s actually a collaboration with another journalist – Vanessa O’Brien who helped with the audio to accompany the online article. Check out the audio piece here: Jordan expands its nuclear plans.

As Jordan works on plans to build its first nuclear plant, protestors are still criticizing the country’s decision to go nuclear in the first place. They say it wastes water and ignores the nation’s renewables potential.

Safa Al Jayoussi, an activist with Greenpeace in Jordan, becomes concerned when she starts to explain why Jordan won’t be able to cope with the country’s impending turn towards nuclear power. She says Jordan is one of the five driest countries in the world and that the new power plans are just going to put the nation under even more pressure.

“Nuclear power plants require large quantities of cooling water, usually from a large river or a large lake,” she told DW. “But, in Jordan, we don’t really have any sources of water.”

She’s also worried about a possible nuclear disaster, similar to what happened at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011.

“It is proposed that grey water be used from a waste water plant for cooling,” Al Jayoussi explains. “Any shortage in water from that facility, which is likely to happen, will cause a huge problem very much like what we saw in Fukushima.”

Plans taking shape

Back in 2009, Jordan’s newly formed Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) declared its plans to build five nuclear reactors for the country. The first would be operational by 2020, they said, and would generate 44 percent of Jordan’s energy mix.

A hot and arid country sandwiched between Israel and Syria, Jordan doesn’t boast substantial oil reserves of its own. In fact, according to government officials, in 2012 the country imported 95 percent of its energy. It’s this dependency that the country hopes to solve with nuclear reactors.

“Right now, we pay around $1.8 billion (1.35 billion euros) a year for the additional electricity Jordan imports,” explains Kamal Araj, Vice Chairman of the JAEC.

Araj argues that nuclear power will bring energy security to Jordan, something that it has struggled with in the past.

“Nuclear runs for 60 years and although there’s a lot of fluctuation in the oil pricing or gas and diesel pricing, for nuclear the price is fixed for a lifetime,” he said, in interview with DW. Araj says that, in his view, renewables aren’t viable as “they only run for 25 to 30 years.”

When the first plant opens, Jordan plans to buy the electricity from the plant’s operator at a fixed unit price, considerably cheaper than the price the state pays now for electricity.

What about solar?

But Safa Al Jayoussi and Basel Burgan from the environmental group, Jordanian Friends of the Environment, both disagree with Araj’s appraisal of renewables. Jordan has 330 days of sunshine a year and is, according to Burgan, the perfect candidate for solar.

“The European Union is hiring out land in North Africa for solar projects,” he said. “So why are we turning to nuclear without exploring the possibilities of using solar? For one, solar has become cheaper.”

Professor Steve Thomas, a nuclear policy expert from the University of Greenwich in London, also questions the argument that renewables aren’t a realistic option for Jordan.

“Although the government have been saying that they aren’t viable, what really isn’t viable is their nuclear plans,” he told DW.

Thomas doubts whether Jordan will be able to get finance for the nuclear project due to the country’s weak credit rating. And, he’s concerned about whether there will be proper design and safety reviews of the plants.

“They don’t have the slightest chance of achieving their 2020 deadline,” he said.

The rising need

In Jordan’s capital, Amman, ceiling fans whirr inside crowded shops, music blares and young men gather on corners talking on their mobile phones. The busy streets here are alive, and the energy bills of the country are growing every year.

Despite a recent parliamentary motion to halt all works on the nuclear reactors and the complaints of activists, the plans for nuclear power in Jordan seem to be forging ahead. The personal involvement of Jordan’s King Abdullah II has no doubt helped dampen any dissent.

Kamal Araj of JAEC says that construction on the first reactor won’t start until 2017 and admits his organization face lots of challenges before then.

“In those four years there will be discussion about contracts, location studies and a work agreement,” Araj said.

“A lot of countries have gone through this and decided not to build. We are not going to cancel. But, we want to make sure that all the conditions are conducive to building a safe and cost-effective nuclear plant before we start,” he said.

For Green Prophet, I often write about harrowing issues such as climate refugees, political conflict in which everyone pays the price and the inability of world leaders to get their shit together and agree a decent climate deal but I do sometimes get to write about some fun stuff too. That’s basically what is going into my top 5 Green Prophet blogs. The odd and uplifting stories of 2012. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did and all the best for the new year inshalla!

In no particular order:1. Senad Hadzic. The Bosnian man who walked 3,600 miles and crossed six borders over 314 days to get to Mekkah in time for Hajj. Putting aside the agonising blisters, seriously cold European weather and having to slum it for almost a year, this actually sounds like a lot of fun… wait a minute. Yep, you got to hand it to Senad Hadzic for the dedication. Continue reading →

I have been thinking a lot about the environmental movement in the region and the importance of a strong civil society for it to flourish. If people are able to organise freely, feel that their voice matters and are unified then they are likely to take action on issues that concern them. If not, they will wait for the government to not only realise the severity of the problem but also come up with a solution. This is particularly worrying if the issue is climate change.

Climate change is not a problem that can be solved by governments and authorities – it’s far too wide reaching for that. It needs local solutions and local actions to go hand in hand with government support and policy. The problem can’t wait for governments to wake up and smell the carbon coffee. So, if we are serious about building up an environmental movement in the Middle East, then we need to be serious about building up a strong and independent civil society first. Continue reading →

Palestinian-Egyptian documentary filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky is looking for help to get his eco-documentary ‘There Will Be Some Who Will Not Fear Even That Void’ off the ground. Farouky is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer whose work focuses on underreported issues and marginalised communities. He has been Artist-in-Residence at the British Museum (twice) and is also a human rights educator with Amnesty and teaches filmmaking at London’s Metropolitan Film School.

There Will Be Some Who Will Not Fear Even That Void is an ecological film for the 21st century that asks, “Can art save the Arctic?” You help can support the film by pitching in at their Kickstarter page or spreading the word.

Here’s a video.

‘The Middle East must stay stable or else the world will face impending economic and ecological doom’ – debunking the myth

My day job requires I read a lot on the Middle East and the environment – from the perspective of economists, environmentalists, political leaders, civil society and also a lot of commentary coming the rest of the world on the Middle East. One strand of thought that has really got me riled up recently is the notion that the Middle East by dreaming of democracy is causing instability which will not only threaten the economy but also the environment. A little dramatic right? Since when was the fate of the entire world in the hands of the Middle East? It short, it’s not. In fact, it’s completely in the hands of everyone else and the real threat is the economic model we live by which equate success with constant growth.

Writing in Alternet, Marshall Auerback states that the heated conflict after the Arab Spring will likely give way to high gas prices and more pollution. “The situation has the feel of Iran, circa-1979. We don’t have a crystal ball, but oil supply is always a concern when conflict arises in oil-rich countires(sic), which may well trigger high gas prices and increased environmental dangers,” he adds. The instability in the Middle East, he reasons, will change the political calculus in favour of more production domestically in countries such as Canada and the US.

Right. So, why is that the Middle East’s fault? The countries who are choosing to dig for dirty fuels instead of investing in renewable projects are the ones making the big mistakes. If the Middle East can’t or won’t provide them with their fossil fuels and they choose to look for more fossil fuels that’s their bad decisions and can’t be blamed on anyone but the countries themselves. Secondly, I completely disagree with his statement that the alternative would be to rely on “unreliable OPEC-based supplied in countries full of Islamic extremists.” Nothing like a bit of casual prejudice and discrimination I guess.

What I really dislike about this stream of thought is that it places blames squarely on the Middle East rather that stating that 1) all countries are locked into growth obsessed economies 2) all countries have choices and if they make the wrong ones then they alone are accountable and 3) the Middle East doesn’t owe ANYONE stability. If the people want change and take to the streets to protest and get rid of their dictators then we should be supporting them. Not saying, “oh actually, we’d prefer it if you didn’t do that – think of the economy!” For years, the West supported its chosen strongmen dictators to keep its oil supply flowing and everyone understood that. But pretending that the Middle East has the power to save or destroy the environment – and bringing in that moral argument – is just simply preposterous.

: Image via ЯAFIK ♋ BERLIN/flickr.

:Originally published at GreenProphet.com.