• AFED Contributes to Arab Environment Outlook, Cairo, 8 December 2016
The Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) invited AFED to contribute to the forthcoming Arab Environment Outlook report, to be produced in cooperation with UNEP. CAMRE held its 28th session at the League of Arab States in Cairo. The ministers called upon AFED to share results of its 2017 annual report on the state of Arab environment in 10 years, alongside other AFED reports, and contribute to the pan-Arab environment assessment.

• Environment Libraries to Schools, January
AFED donated 50 environment libraries to selected Lebanese schools, as part of its environment education program. Each school received a collection of books, reports and volumes of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia magazine.

• AFED at Future Force Conference, The Hague, 20 January
AFED will participate in Future Force Conference, hosted in The Hague on 9-10 February by the Dutch Ministry of Defense. The conference focuses on the relation between natural resources and security. A preparatory brainstorming meeting which convened on 20 January identified 5 priorities: Freedom of access to universal basic needs (water, raw material; rebuilding society; youth; education; leapfrogging technology). Secretary General Najib Saab will deliver a keynote speech at a session on Natural Resources and Security Nexus, focusing on the impact of climate change, conflicts, wars and occupation on peace and security. The session is being organized in cooperation with The Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS) and World Resources Institute (WRI).

• GEO-6 Author Meeting, January
AFED Secretariat continued reviewing material in preparations for the joint Author-High Level Group (HLG) meeting of the Global environment Outlook-6, scheduled on 20-24 February in Rome. GEO-6 is the flagship assessment report of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). AFED Secretary General is HLG member.

• Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia Magazine Online, January
The first issue of AFED's Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia online only magazine was published this January. It is available on www.afedmag.com in addition to other daily news items and weekly commentaries. Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia magazine will appear online on a monthly basis. Special issues will be published several times a year in print form. Moreover, a monthly page in collaboration with AFED is published in several Arab newspapers, including Al Hayat, Al Wasat and Al Maghribia.

• AFED 10th Annual Report: "Arab Environment in 10 Years"
Work on AFED's 10th annual report is underway. Over 100 experts are working on it, in cooperation with AFED member universities and research centers. The report will analyze changes which took place in different sectors over the last decade, with the findings of AFED's first annual report published in 2008 as baseline for comparison. It will focus on developments at the policy and governance levels, and track changes in water, energy, air, food security, green economy and finance, environmental research and education, and waste management.

• University of Bahrain joins AFED as Academic Member, January
University of Bahrain (UoB), the largest and only public and national university in Bahrain joined AFED as academic member. Its President, Prof. Riyad Y. Hamzah, is AFED Founding Trustee.

• Call for Partnership, January
A call for partnership and sponsorship was initiated last December and continued throughout January soliciting technical and financial contributions for AFED annual report and conference. Major funds, institutes, research centers, agencies, foundations were approached. Partners and sponsors will be duly recognized in all print and online versions of the report (published in English and Arabic), as well as in AFED annual conference, and advertising in print, TV and online media.