2026: Re-centring Sustainability in the Year Ahead

Dear SAWA Community,

Happy New Year! عام سعيد

A new year invites reflection, intention-setting and the urge to define what comes next. As we settle into 2026, we’re choosing to re-centre ourselves around our shared passion: sustainability.

In recent years, we found that sustainability conversations in and around the MENA region have been fragmented, often reduced to buzzwords and distant policy mentions. This was one of the motivations to launch SAWA. As we grow our network and set our own New Year’s resolutions, SAWA is focusing on our core principles: what does sustainability mean when it’s grounded in culture and collective responsibility? What does it look like when solutions are shaped by the realities of our region and its diaspora? How can I be more sustainable in my day-to-day life?

This month’s newsletter edition is an invitation to our community to reset our compass. In 2026, we hope to reconnect with sustainability on a personal and regional level, understanding it should be at the heart of our people, land, culture and future.

We’re looking forward to starting this new year with you. Exciting things are coming.

PS: We’ve just launched a SAWA community on WhatsApp. Join through this link to share, and hear about, more tips, innovations, jobs, and interesting news regularly.

Until next time,

The SAWA team

Dates to Watch

Each month, we spotlight a global or regional environmental date that resonates with SAWA’s mission.

January 26: International Environmental Education Day | Knowledge is Power, and Action 

International Environmental Education Day was first declared in 1975 at the International Workshop on Environmental Education held in Belgrade, Serbia, and later reinforced at the Tbilisi Conference in 1977: two landmark events led by UNESCO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The goal was to create a framework for environmental education as a global priority: one that equips people with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.

Since then, January 26 has been recognized and celebrated by environmental educators and institutions worldwide as a moment to celebrate and advocate for environmental learning, especially in schools, communities, and workplaces.

Why environmental education matters in MENA: In many parts of the Arab world, environmental awareness has historically taken a backseat to more urgent crises of political instability, economic insecurity, or humanitarian concerns. But our generation is changing that. We’re building our own knowledge systems, connecting the dots between environmental issues and the challenges we live through: water scarcity, urban heat, pollution, displacement, and more.

Environmental education isn’t just for scientists or policymakers. It’s for all of us. Understanding sustainability empowers us to lead change from wherever we are. In this era of Trump-ism resistance to science, this day is a stark reminder of the importance of equipping ourselves and those around us with science backed information.

How you can engage this month:

• Share your favorite environmental book, course, or podcast on your socials and tag @sawa.mena

• Explore UNESCO’s sustainable development education material

• Reflect on your own sustainability journey: where did it begin?

Innovation Spotlights: Tunisian Young Climate Change Negotiators Group & EGYouth4Climate

For this month’s spotlight, we’re showcasing the work of two organisations that get to the heart of sustainability in practice: Tunisian Young Climate Change Negotiators Group, and EGYouth4Climate (Egypt).

Both organisations train young climate negotiators and embed them as part of the national negotiation teams partaking in regional and international climate negotiations, such as the annual UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) and Subsidiary Bodies (SBs), ensuring that youth voices and priorities are represented in official national positions and governance structures. Both are examples of real inclusion which provide youth with the opportunity to present and defend their interests in the futures of the countries they’re inheriting. With backing from respective Ministries in each of their countries, these initiatives are literally giving youth voices a seat at the negotiation table.

Interested in climate diplomacy training opportunities? Let us know and we’ll factor it into our programming for this year!

Careers Corner

In this corner, you’ll find a monthly roundup of impact-driven roles, opportunities and practical advice from the region and its diaspora.

Jobs on the SAWA Radar:

EMEA

• Senior Environmental Consultant (Dubai, UAE)

• Sr. Sustainability PM, AMET, Global Energy, Sustainability, and Automation (Dubai, UAE)

• Senior Associate - Sustainability (Riyadh, KSA)

• Consultant - Sustainability Strategy & Transformation (Amman, Jordan)

AMER

• 2026 Summer Internship Program - ESG

• Analyst/Associate Consultant

• Consulting Associate, Environmental Due Diligence

Committee tip of the month: 

“If you want to move into a new area or develop skills your current job doesn't require, volunteering is one way to accomplish this. You could join a sustainability committee at work, help out with a company-wide project you're curious about, or volunteer with a nonprofit where you can learn a specific skill set for the types of roles you are targeting.” - Michelle, SAWA Co-Founder, based in London, UK.

Have a tip you’d like to share? We’d love to hear it! Fill out this form to share more.

What We’re Watching

Sustainability is often framed through targets and timelines, but it’s just as much about how people live, build, adapt in the present.

Down to Earth with Zac Efron follows Zac and Darin Olien across their worldly travels, exploring locally rooted approaches to wellbeing, resource use, and environmental resilience. Rather than presenting sustainability as a universal blueprint, the series highlights solutions shaped by culture, geography, and lived experiences.

What makes the show compelling is the emphasis of practicality over perfection. From water stewardship to food systems and energy use, many of the most effective solutions emerge from community knowledge and an understanding of local constraints, rather than technology or scale.

As SAWA reflects on what sustainability looks like when it’s rooted in culture and collective responsibility, Down to Earth with Zac Efron offers a timely point of reference.

What We’re Reading: Climate Governance in MENA

Conversations on sustainability are often centred around what actions should be taken. As we move away from thought and into implementation, however, these conversations should be shaped by how actions are governed. We’re starting this year delving into new research and thought leadership that examines the political, social and institutional frameworks that are central to determining whether climate action is durable and equitable, and how to approach different starting points across the region.

This month, we’re reading a new paper published in December by Chatham House, authored by Karim Elgendy, Associate Fellow with their Middle East and North Africa Programme. The paper, “How the Middle East and North Africa can benefit from adaptive climate governance”, explores how climate governance choices in the MENA region will shape the political stability and economic resilience as the impacts of climate change become a greater threat and the global energy transition advances.

The paper explores two approaches, one prioritising participation and public consultation and the other prioritising quick implementation through hierarchical systems that prioritise quick implementation, before concluding that elements of both may be the way forward for the region.

It considers regional instability and imbalances, with one particular intersectional summary takeaway catching our eye when we came across the research: “Countries in the MENA region face climate change and the energy transition from highly unequal starting points. Wealthy hydrocarbon exporters, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, can fund large-scale clean-energy projects, while resource-constrained economies, such as Egypt, Morocco and Jordan, depend on external finance and must prioritize affordability and the development of institutional capacity. These differences influence divergent governance models and shape what type of climate action is feasible.”

Read the full paper here.

Language of Environmental Justice

Each month, we spotlight a key term to help build shared understanding around intersectional sustainability.

January’s Term: Just Transition

The start of a new year is symbolic and transitionary, prompting many to reflect on what comes next in their life. In the field of sustainability, the ‘what comes next’ transition often refers to our shift away from high-polluting activities toward a greener, low-carbon economy.

This transition is necessary. As countries strive toward meeting their commitments to global climate agreements, most notably the Paris Agreement, they must move away from economies dependent on high-carbon pollution and fossil fuels, requiring investments into greener technology and policy incentives to make sustainable economies more attractive.

However, this must centre fairness for workers, frontline communities and those historically and presently marginalised. A ‘just transition’ refers to a shift toward low-carbon economies that is fair, inclusive and attentive to social impacts. It means that climate action doesn’t come at the expense of livelihoods, cultural heritage, or access to basic needs. When connecting this to the MENA region, particularly the Gulf, a critical question that comes to mind is how to fairly transition away from economies dependent on fossil fuels, namely oil.

Re-centring sustainability in 2026 requires us to reflect on the most effective and fair ways to carry out the transition, understanding it is both an environmental and social imperative that must consider participation from affected communities and long-term resilience for people and the earth. In the MENA, we love reading about existing activists, consultants, and larger organisations working to support the transition away from fossil fuel dependence. We found Resource Justice Network’s transition roadmap to 2030 in MENA particularly interesting - click here to check it out.

To read more on just transitions more broadly, we found this explainer from UNDP helpful.

Are you working on transitioning toward a sustainable economy in the MENA region? Reach out - we’d love to hear more about your strategy!

Stay Connected with SAWA 

Stay connected with updates, opportunities, networking, events and more on our LinkedIn, Instagram and website.

Thank You

We hope you enjoyed our January newsletter. We welcome any and all feedback: feel free to reach out and tell us what you’d like more of.

We’re grateful to be building a space rooted in reflection, shared learning and collective impact with you. We have exciting things on the horizon for 2026, so stay tuned for more!

With gratitude,

The SAWA Team