Free-market Environmentalism, and More

  Published in The Fast Company, June 18th, 2024 2023 was the  hottest year on record , shattering records dating back to the mid-1850s, and driving a heightened sense of urgency around climate action. 2024 might be even hotter, as evidenced by this week’s  extreme heat wave  across the U.S. In the Middle East, already one of the hottest regions on earth, temperatures have risen twice as fast as the global average. Characterized by arid environments, countries in this region have their own set of challenges and needs, necessitating a distinct framework for advancing sustainability policy and solutions. But they’re not alone. Over one-third of the world’s population lives in countries—such as vast areas of Western Asia, northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent, and South America—with hot and arid environments. To date, global sustainability discussions have largely focused on tropical and temperate countries. They usually assume that the main focus should be on p...

  Published in The Peninsula, Doha, 09 Jun 2024 Mangroves are a special type of coastal forest characterised by their ability to thrive in marine environments. These forests grow on the shoreline, and many are adapted to withstand high levels of salinity, including those in Qatar. More importantly, mangroves are a very critical ecosystem which provide numerous benefits to societies, although often these benefits are not widely recognized. Mangroves store and absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, thereby reducing the levels of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Because they grow on coastal sediments, they help stabilize shorelines and, in this way, protect coastal communities from storms and floods. With increasing levels of sea rise, mangroves will play an even more important role in adapting to climate change. Finally, they provide key habitats for coastal biodiversity, especially as spawning grounds for fish and other forms of marine life, and thus are a crucial ecosystem to s...

  Published in The Peninsula, March 6, 2024 Tackling environmental challenges through evidence-based policy solutions Preoccupations regarding the continued deterioration of the world’s environment are a significant focus of our times. Scientists, politicians, influencers and actors express concern, but often without hard data to support their opinions. To some, human civilization is inevitably destined to oblivion, however our generation is the most prosperous in human history. To quote J. Robert Oppenheimer: “The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.” But where does the truth lie? Here, I present the two sides of the same coin. Scientists at the Stockholm Resilience Center in Sweden, an international organization dedicated to transdisciplinary research on the governance of social-ecological systems, have defined and monitored our “planetary boundaries” for several years. These boundaries refer to the physical and ecological limit...

  Published in Innovation News Network - Environment - 5th January 2024 (https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/energy-transition-hot-arid-countries-vital-global-climate-targets/41509/) 24 Dr Gonzalo Castro de la Mata, Executive Director at the Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future at the Qatar Foundation, explains that the energy transition in hot and arid countries is a pressing matter if global net zero goals are to be met. Countries in hot and arid regions face substantial and unique challenges from global warming since most climate models predict that they will experience comparatively greater increases in average temperatures. This will increase the need for cooling, an essential requirement even today in many of these countries, in order to make human habitability possible during several months of the year. In parallel, hotter climates increase evaporation, which will, in turn, reduce water availability, a compounding challenge considering that many arid coastal countries r...

 Qatar´s Deserts are Alive. Published in The Peninsula, Doha, October 7, 2023. Natural ecosystems are critical to sustaining human societies by providing services that help to regulate the climate, recycle water and nutrients, create soil, pollinate plants, and replenish the Earth’s resources. However, perhaps more importantly, natural ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain have traditionally been a source of beauty, wonder, and inspiration to all cultures around the world. In popular culture, utopian ecosystems are often represented as lush tropical forests, where gigantic trees serve as homes to strange creatures and rivers flow with infinite volumes of water – typically areas rich in biodiversity. But what about biodiversity in desert countries such as Qatar? Does the lack of water and extreme heat mean that biodiversity here is less important, less appealing and less precious than in more temperate climates? To me, the answer is much to the contrary. Despite the harsh con...

Human ingenuity and market forces can help rescue Gaia. Letter published in The Financial Times, July 23, 2023. Camilla Cavendish’s opinion piece on the arrival of the Anthropocene correctly states that human societies have produced changes to our planet that objectively mark a new geological era (Opinion, July 14). The conclusion that this new era will inevitably result in irreversible damage to “Gaia” and human societies, however, is premature. Thanks to human ingenuity, awareness and collaboration we have been able to solve previous environmental crises, including acid rain and the disappearance of the ozone layer. Water and air quality in advanced economies are much better than they were half a century ago. Rivers no longer burst into flames. And thanks to conservation efforts, forests and other ecosystems are coming back in the northern hemisphere. The solution to the climate crisis, however, cannot be based on the premise that we need to change our own individual lifestyles and b...

Tackling the global environmental crisis through innovation and entrepreneurship. Published in Innovation News Network on September 6th, 2023 ( https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/tackling-global-environmental-crisis-through-innovation-entrepreneurship/37018/) Concerns about the health of the planet are increasing exponentially. Alarming news appears every day showing the gravity of the situation, including the imminence of global warming, the accelerating loss of biodiversity, and the growing levels of contamination of various ecosystems, including the oceans. These impacts, a result of human society’s unsustainable activities upon our planet, are so profound that scientists consider that a new and distinct geological era, defined by our impacts upon the planet, has arrived. They have named it ‘The Anthropocene.’ Are these changes so profound that their harmful impacts upon human societies, natural ecosystems, and the planet at large, are inevitable? Will global warming change the b...