DUBAI: A Dubai-based company is using solar energy to produce water out of air.
Source Global, which was established in Dubai in 2017, recently introduced sun-powered hydro-panels to make clean drinking water.
It is aiming to get 75 percent of its energy use from clean sources by 2050, CNN reported.
“These hydro panels are effectively producing high quality drinking water day in, day out without requiring any infrastructure, any power or any type of grid,” the company’s Vice President Vahid Fotuhi told CNN in an interview.
The new technology uses solar energy to power a fan that draws in air, which then goes through a sponge-like material where water molecules are absorbed.
Source Global, which operates in 48 countries, chose Dubai to develop its biggest water farm because of the emirate’s keenness to invest in innovation, Fotuhi said.
“First of all, the fact that it is a hub for the Middle East Africa region, it also is a center for new innovations for key sectors, such as agriculture and water,” he explained.
Technologies that turn air into water are not new, but Fotuhi said they want to make it more sustainable by adopting a clean energy strategy.
Experts said the challenge with these technologies is distribution, but Source Global thinks getting people on board harder.
People here are accustomed to a staple solution for water generation and what we’re proposing is kind of diversified menu effectively,” he said. “As with most disruptive technologies, initially people are hesitant to change.”
Dubai firm uses solar power to make water out of air
https://arab.news/86akq
Dubai firm uses solar power to make water out of air
Multilateralism strained, but global cooperation adapting: WEF report
DUBAI: Overall levels of international cooperation have held steady in recent years, with smaller and more innovative partnerships emerging, often at regional and cross-regional levels, according to a World Economic Forum report.
The third edition of the Global Cooperation Barometer was launched on Thursday, ahead of the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos from Jan. 19 to 23.
“The takeaway of the Global Cooperation Barometer is that while multilateralism is under real strain, cooperation is not ending, it is adapting,” Ariel Kastner, head of geopolitical agenda and communications at WEF, told Arab News.
Developed alongside McKinsey & Company, the report uses 41 metrics to track global cooperation in five areas: Trade and capital; innovation and technology; climate and natural capital; health and wellness; and peace and security.
The pace of cooperation differs across sectors, with peace and security seeing the largest decline. Cooperation weakened across every tracked metric as conflicts intensified, military spending rose and multilateral mechanisms struggled to contain crises.
By contrast, climate and nature, alongside innovation and technology, recorded the strongest increases.
Rising finance flows and global supply chains supported record deployment of clean technologies, even as progress remained insufficient to meet global targets.
Despite tighter controls, cross-border data flows, IT services and digital connectivity continued to expand, underscoring the resilience of technology cooperation amid increasing restrictions.
The report found that collaboration in critical technologies is increasingly being channeled through smaller, aligned groupings rather than broad multilateral frameworks.
This reflects a broader shift, Kastner said, highlighting the trend toward “pragmatic forms of collaboration — at the regional level or among smaller groups of countries — that advance both shared priorities and national interests.”
“In the Gulf, for example, partnerships and investments with Asia, Europe and Africa in areas such as energy, technology and infrastructure, illustrate how focused collaboration can deliver results despite broader, global headwinds,” he said.
Meanwhile, health and wellness and trade and capital remained flat.
Health outcomes have so far held up following the pandemic, but sharp declines in development assistance are placing growing strain on lower- and middle-income countries.
In trade, cooperation remained above pre-pandemic levels, with goods volumes continuing to grow, albeit at a slower pace than the global economy, while services and selected capital flows showed stronger momentum.
The report also highlights the growing role of smaller, trade-dependent economies in sustaining global cooperation through initiatives such as the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership, launched in September 2025 by the UAE, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.
Looking ahead, maintaining open channels of communication will be critical, Kastner said.
“Crucially, the building block of cooperation in today’s more uncertain era is dialogue — parties can only identify areas of common ground by speaking with one another.”
