environment

Main Publications March 8, 2024 47:08 MIN Development is Coming: Be Careful What You Wish For By Dr. Nadia Al-Sakkaf, Alex Harper, and Joel Thorpe Since 2021, Yemenis have become more strident in their calls for new and better ways of providing aid. Yemeni experts have warned that prolonged cycles of short-term humanitarian aid can entrench dependence and have called for a transition toward development approaches that could set the foundation for a sustainable post-conflict economy. Despite vastly different interpretations and positions over what development means in practice, this shift is now happening, albeit slowly. New frameworks and coordination mechanisms are emerging from the UN compound in Sana’a, the World Bank offices in Amman's Abdali Boulevard, and the conference rooms of Riyadh and Brussels, which are set to fundamentally change the way aid is delivered in Yemen over the coming decade. The effect of these… Continue reading Analysis February 21, 2024 28:54 MIN Yemen’s Vulnerability to Climate Change: How to Strengthen Adaptation By Helen Lackner This policy brief summarizes the environmental issues Yemen faces and outlines policy and technical responses to limit their impact. These include environmental problems caused by the absence of state intervention or by misguided policies, and those that are symptoms of global warming, pointing out the frequent synergy between them. Yemen, like other developing countries, suffers the consequences of climate change while having insignificant responsibility for causing them. Water scarcity is Yemen’s major environmental problem, which demands urgent attention. Other environmental issues include the deterioration of ecosystems, oil related and other pollution, sanitation issues, waste disposal, fisheries, and rising sea levels. The problems are due to a synergy between human interventions and external global warming features. In the course of earlier… Continue reading The Yemen Review February 15, 2024 42:27 MIN The Yemen Annual Review 2023 Peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) dominated Yemeni politics over the last year. The negotiations began as backchannel discussions in October 2022 after the Houthis resisted UN pressure to renew a truce first agreed in April 2022 by making a series of eleventh-hour demands. The talks continued despite Houthi attacks on oil terminals in southern Yemen in late 2022 that effectively put the internationally recognized government under a form of economic blockade. As the months progressed, the government’s increasingly dire economic situation pressured it to accept the Saudi policy of seeking a settlement with Houthi authorities, seemingly at almost any price. The broad terms of a Saudi-Houthi agreement first became public in January, when international… Continue reading Main Publications December 19, 2023 32:42 MIN Challenges to Yemen’s Public Revenues By Ned Whalley, and Wadhah Al-Awlaqi Since April 2022, the war in Yemen has mutated from a high-casualty conflict to a protracted stalemate with relatively stable frontlines. The contest is now over the economy, as the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) leverages negotiations and its military power to put fiscal pressure on the internationally recognized government. The current phase has been marked by the expansion of economic warfare, with the Houthi authorities shutting down trade from government-controlled areas, stoking discontent as public utilities break down and the currency tumbles. The Houthi attack on government revenue streams began last fall with a blockade of oil exports and has expanded into competition for customs revenues and a ban on cooking gas produced in government-held areas. The precipitous decline in… Continue reading Analysis November 20, 2023 15:26 MIN September and October 2023 The Black Waters of Total By Quentin Müller A strange curse seems to be hanging over Sah district. Cultivable plots, once lush with crops, pastures, limes, watermelons, and onions, have been abandoned. Blackened at the base, twisted and staggering, the trail of date palms stands out in the desolate landscape. On his doorstep sits 36-year-old Mohammed Ali Salem Sourour, listening to the song of the birds, which are increasingly rare in this region. In the darkness of the house, a small child hesitates to step into the light. His 6-year-old son Adam finally reveals a startling birth defect. One eye, larger than the other, seemed to have detached from his left eyebrow, dropping a few centimeters below. “We live in the most poisoned land in Yemen,” says Mohammed,… Continue reading Main Publications November 1, 2023 25:45 MIN Corruption in Hadramawt’s Electricity Sector By Ali Yahya Abdullah, Nabhan Abdullah bin Nabhan, and Casey Coombs Since the summer of 2019, protests have become a fixture across Hadramawt in reaction to the poor provision of electricity. Although the governorate is far from the frontlines and home to most of the country’s oil reserves, it has not escaped destabilizing aspects of the conflict, including the erosion of the rule of law and the emergence of war profiteering. In the face of growing electricity demand, Hadramawt’s local authority has commissioned the construction of new power plants and the repair of existing ones, and become increasingly reliant on electricity purchase agreements with private companies. However, the lack of transparency or oversight of these deals, in violation of the competitive bidding requirements of national tender regulations, benefits a select group… Continue reading Main Publications October 30, 2023 38:38 MIN Yemen International Forum 2023 Report The Yemen International Forum (YIF) began life as an ambitious if improbable idea. The aim was to have a forum conceived and implemented by Yemenis that would provide a powerful platform for bringing together as many elements of Yemeni society as possible, along with international actors, to discuss the country’s manifold problems. By attempting to build a common vision among the diverse parties beyond the formal peace process, progress might be made, even in small ways. Having a local organization lead an initiative on peace and dialogue at this scale would also empower Yemenis, ensuring solutions brought to the table are locally conceived and led. Two years later, this homegrown approach to peacebuilding is bearing fruit. The YIF provides a… Continue reading Main Publications August 24, 2023 36:53 MIN Recovering Lost Ground in Shabwa’s Oil Sector By Majd Ibrahim, and Casey Coombs Shabwa’s oil sector has developed in fits and starts. Its first commercially viable oil reserves were discovered in 1987 when the governorate was still part of South Yemen. In 1990, South Yemen united with North Yemen to form the Republic of Yemen, which enlisted foreign energy companies to help develop the nascent oil industry. This included the construction of a pipeline running from northern Shabwa to the governorate’s Arabian Sea coast, and over the next 15 years a growing number of foreign energy firms and state-owned companies tapped new oil fields and further expanded production. Shabwa’s annual oil output peaked in 2010 at more than 25 million barrels (about 70,000 barrels per day), before plummeting to about 8 million barrels… Continue reading Main Publications August 4, 2023 19:23 MIN Two Birds With One Stone: Using Aid Transfers to Support Stable Commodity Prices in Yemen By Alex Harper, and Wadhah Al-Awlaqi During the conflict in Yemen, the government-run Central Bank of Yemen in Aden (CBY-Aden), and other government-aligned economic stakeholders have argued for a policy that would rationalize humanitarian and broader aid transfers to support the provision of foreign exchange (FX) to critical commodity importers. This could benefit the economy at large and specifically support the stabilization of food prices, a major driver of food insecurity. Such proposals have aimed to solve challenges resulting from the competing economic and monetary policies adopted by the parties to the conflict. However, the CBY-Aden is currently unable to effectively regulate Yemen’s financial institutions to utilize aid funds for import financing and currency stabilization. Aid actors have also been reluctant to engage with past such… Continue reading News May 17, 2023 06:18 MIN Sana’a Center Briefs the Security Council for the Second Time By Yasmeen al-Eryani PRESS RELEASE – Wednesday, May 17, 2023 New York – Yasmeen al-Eryani, the Co-Executive Director for Knowledge Production at the Sana'a Center, briefed the UN Security Council today, focusing on the ongoing negotiations, transitional justice, women’s rights, economic insecurity, and ecological justice in Yemen. In her address, Al-Eryani said that the ongoing talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi movement are important, but the interests of the country and its people as a whole must be considered, emphasizing that all talks must be coordinated under the UN umbrella and engage local peace efforts. “Yemenis are fully capable of rebuilding their country and shaping its future," said Al-Eryani, but “there is a shared international responsibility to steer Yemen out of its… Continue reading Editorial March 10, 2023 03:08 MIN January-February 2023 The Saudi-Houthi Talks Are Dangerously Exclusive Reports of bilateral peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the armed Houthi movement have been trickling out since last October, and their recent confirmation in media reports has fueled widespread optimism and speculation. The talks should be welcomed as a step toward ending Yemen’s disastrous war. But to establish a lasting peace, they must quickly expand to include representation of all Yemenis. The current status of Saudi-Houthi negotiations is unclear. They have broached issues that have been on the table since last year’s truce talks, including the provision of public sector salaries, the easing of restrictions at Houthi-held ports, and guarantees on border security. But of fundamental importance is their current exclusivity. The government believes they will soon be brought… Continue reading Yemen Review section March 9, 2023 04:24 MIN January-February 2023 National Environment Day Sheds Light on Plight of Endangered Species By Musaed Aklan February 20 marks the annual celebration of National Environment Day in Yemen. Article no.35 of Yemen’s constitution mandates the preservation of the environment as a responsibility of the state and society, and as a national duty for all citizens. This year, events, symposiums, workshops, football matches, and cultural activities were held across the country to increase awareness on preserving and protecting the environment. In areas under the control internationally recognized government, the plight of Yemen’s endangered species was chosen as this year’s campaign, with various events held in Aden, Abyan, Lahj, Socotra, and other governorates, and across various education institutions, spreading a clear message of "Zero Tolerance for Trafficking and Hunting Endangered Species." Yemen is home to a wide variety… Continue reading