Sustainable Development Fact Sheets

Carbon dioxide (commonly referred to as CO2) is a colourless and odourless gas. Over the past few years, CO2 has increasingly been referred to as a ‘problematic gas’. Why has this fairly unreactive gas, which exists at room temperature and pressure, gotten itself such a bad reputation? 

The nexus refers to the connection between the water, food and energy sectors. It is an approach used to understand dependencies: one nexus element cannot exist without the other, and changes to one will impact another. While sectors have previously been dealt with in isolation, a nexus approach can...

The World Food Summit in 1996 defined that food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Supply and access to nutritious and safe food is...

Al Hima is a traditional rangeland management system, which has been established in the Arabian Peninsula region by tribal peoples. They depended on sustainable land use patterns that would assure long-term survival in the face of scarce resources, particularly water. The term ‘Al Hima’ means protec...

The WANA region is notable for its dry climate and scarce water resources. How to preserve these scarce resources has long been a topic of debate. Given the large amounts of water required to grow food, countries in the region are increasingly opting to rely on food imports rather than on domestic a...

Water security is essential for economic development, livelihoods, ecological sustainability, human dignity and conflict resilience. The particular importance of water security for the WANA region arises from a unique set of circumstances reflecting all factors influencing water security.

The WANA region is typically associated with non-renewable energy in the form of oil and gas. Arab countries alone are estimated to hold 43% of the world’s proven reserves.  Despite this, the WANA region is home to cutting edge renewable energy projects, particularly in the countries of the Gulf sub...