Environmental Justice

On 7 September 2015, Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Palestine & Jordan office invited the main Palestinian actors and experts in the environmental field to a policy dialogue titled “Food Sovereignty in Palestine”. The aim of the policy dialogue was to discuss the challenges before local agriculture in Palestine and the influence of the agricultural policies and projects on the Palestinian market. The experts and representatives of Palestinian civil society organizations and ministries came up with recommendations at the end of the dialogue to improve the situation of the Palestinian agriculture and market

If the EU is serious about an ambitious agreement at the UN talks in Paris, it must prioritise adaptation and resilience to climate risk in the negotiations, write Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's President Barbara Unmüßig and Ralf Fücks and E3G's Chief Executive Nick Mabey.

Al-Haq in cooperation with Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Palestine & Jordan Office published a study on “Environmental Injustice in Occupied Palestinian Territory: Problems and Prospects” in July 2015. The study was prepared by three researchers, Dr. Benjamin Pontin, Dr. Jesus Gamero Rus, and Vito de Lucia*. The researchers investigated environmental problems affecting Palestinians, which are attributed to Israel’s occupation of the territories of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip. The investigation took place in relation to environmental justice.

Author: Svenja Oberender Traditional agriculture, with its strong connection to the land and understanding of its character, is an often cited part of Palestinian national identity. Unfortunately, the grave reality is that the profession is slowly but surely disappearing. In this interview, agronomist and environmentalist Saad Dagher explains the reasons for the decline that can be found not only in the political situation but also in social and economic developments. In addition, he talks about how abandoning peasant farming has in turn changed Palestinian society.

Healthy soils are crucial to human nutrition and the fight against hunger. But worldwide 24 billion tons of fertile soil is lost annually. Barbara Unmüßig calls attention to the growing threat to one of Earth’s most important resources.    

The rules of the global economy also remain untouchable, making it nearly impossible to restructure financial and trade policies to ensure that they do not result in more poverty, unchecked climate change, and irreversible resource destruction. The language agreed upon so far is not reassuring. A timeworn commitment to economic growth at all cost is no answer to the question of how development can be balanced against the limits of our planet and the fact that billions of people live in poverty. In a finite world, infinite growth is impossible, and rising output will not put food on everyone’s table if the benefits of growth are not fairly distributed.

All graphics and texts from the Soil Atlas are published under the Creative Commons license CC-BY-SA. This means that you can use, edit, and publish all content from the Atlas under consideration of these conditions. 

The emissions from burning coal, oil, and gas are heating up our planet at such a rapid rate that increasingly volatile and dangerous climate conditions seem almost inevitable. Clearly, we have to reduce emissions fast, while developing alternative energy sources that allow us to leave fossil fuels in the ground.

After premiering in Rio, the International Uranium Film Festival traveled to other cities and countries. In the past years it has been in São Paulo, Lisbon, Berlin, and Munich, among others, as well as in ten major cities in India including New Delhi and Hyderabad. In 2014 the festival travelled from Rio de Janeiro to Washington DC, New York City, and Berlin. Now it is in Amman.

Supported by the Palestinian American Research Center (PARC) and hbs, Sameerah Awawdeh and Dr. Yousef Daoud are carrying out a project investigating the economic and social impact of the use of solar energy instead of fossil fuels to generate electricity in Palestine. The study particularly looks at the impact on public finance, external trade and labor market.