Free-market Environmentalism, and More

  Published in The Peninsula, Doha, October 10th, 2024. In the last quarter of this year, various United Nations (UN) treaties will host their ‘Conferences of the Parties’ for the three major international environmental agreements: Climate Change in Azerbaijan, Biodiversity in Colombia, and Desertification in Saudi Arabia. Signed in 1992, these three conventions are critically important pillars of the global environmental architecture, yet they are often misunderstood and underappreciated. Imagine a dusty, dimly lit room. At one end, there’s Climate Change, brooding over its latest doomsday report. Next to it sits Biodiversity, quietly lamenting extinct species that will never be seen again. Across the room, in the driest corner, Desertification sighs, knowing that it, too, needs some attention. These three characters – all features of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, share a mutual frustration: they’re all some of the most pressing issues facing the planet, but no one seems to care enou...

Camisea:  ¡Si Se Pudo! September 14, 2024 El mes pasado (Agosto 2024) se cumplieron 20 años desde la entrada en funcionamiento del proyecto Camisea y los resultados han sido extraordinarios. Camisea genera el 40% de la electricidad del Perú, y como el gas es un combustible más barato que otras alternativas para generar electricidad o para su uso directo en la industria y el transporte, los ahorros acumulados en la economía exceden los 110,000 millones de dólares, es decir, nuestra economía es ahora mucho más competitiva al tener energía más barata. Además de estos ahorros, Camisea añade en forma directa 1.3% al PBI del país cada año, una riqueza acumulada de más de 30,000 millones de dólares, sin contar los beneficios secundarios y las cadenas de valor y los puestos de trabajo directos e indirectos que se han generado. El Estado Peruano recibe aproximadamente dos tercios de toda la riqueza generada por Camisea a través de las regalías y del impuesto a la renta. La mayor parte de es...

  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...