If like me, you have too many old devices tucked away in a drawer at home, a financial incentive may be on the way to nudge you closer to a recycling point.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has launched a trial project with Tadweer Group in which manufacturers and producers of electronic devices pay a fee to make them more accountable for how phones are disposed of.
When recycled, that fee will be passed back to consumers.
Speaking to The National at the launch, Ali Al Dhaheri, chief executive of Tadweer Group, said the way electronic goods will be processed will ensure secure personal information is disposed of accordingly.
The programme, known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), is widely considered an essential component of sustainable waste management. Countries such as the UK, Germany and South Korea have used EPR for various product categories, resulting in improved recycling rates and reduced environmental harm.
Operation Green Shield, led by the UAE Ministry of Interior, succeeded in dismantling major criminal networks operating in the Amazon Basin. Wam
The UAE has led a major international operation against environmental crimes in the Amazon Basin, resulting in 94 arrests and the seizure of assets valued at more than $64 million.
The 14-day action, Operation Green Shield, was a multinational investigation co-ordinated by the Emirates with Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru.
Climate change tripled the number of heat-related deaths across European cities in the recent heatwaves, analysis by scientists has estimated.
Global warming, caused primarily by humans burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests, led to the searing, more intense heat that gripped much of Europe in late June and early July, researchers found.
The heatwaves were up to 4ºC hotter across cities compared to a world without climate change, the researchers from the World Weather Attribution said.
Kelp forests can absorb carbon up to 20 times faster than those on land. Kelp is a type of seaweed which grows incredibly fast – some can grow up to half a metre in length each day.
Jargon buster
Global boiling: A dramatic phrase popularised in 2023 by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to replace "global warming". The term aims to emphasise that the planet isn't just warming, it is overheating.
A full guide to understanding climate jargon is here.
Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
Do not drive outside designated lanes
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024. It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine. Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages]. The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts. With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians. Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved. Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world. The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
This month, Dubai Medical College launched the Middle East’s first master's programme in addiction science.
Together with the Erada Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation, the college offers a two-year master’s course as well as a one-year diploma in the same subject.
The move was announced earlier this year and is part of a new drive to combat drug abuse and increase the region’s capacity for treating drug addiction.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
