Sabkhas: The UAE’s Carbon Sinks

Our latest episode looks at sabkhas – seemingly uninhabitable salt flats that might help us fight climate change. These salty ecosystems can sequester four times more carbon (per square meter) than rainforests can. This episode is really timely given that the UAE is gearing up to host COP28—the 28th UN Climate Conference, also known as the Conference of Parties, where negotiators from countries around the world will meet and have to find a way to agree on how we’re going to limit global warming to 1.5C by 2050.

Spatika and Liz had a lot of questions about sabkhas so they talked to some experts to find out the answers. Listen as architect and curator Wael Al Awar and sustainability expert Mai Shalaby TELL US MORE.

Tell Us More!

Kids in Dubai, have ever seen a sabkha in the UAE? If so, we want to hear about it! Tell us where you saw it and what it looked like. You or a grown up can write to us at tellmemore@amaeya.media.

Find Out More!

The National Pavilion UAE was awarded the Golden Lion Award for Best National Participation at La Biennale Architettura 2021 for the exhibit Wetlands. Curated by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto of waiwai design, Wetlands was inspired by research into sabkhas. 

The Anatomy of Sabkhas: Salt and Architecture by Ahmed and Rashid Bin Shabib is available for purchase online and in Dubai bookshops.

Episode Credits

This episode of TELL ME MORE was brought to you by Amaeya Media. It was produced by Liz McEnaney with help from Sundar Raman and Chirag Desai and hosted by Spatika and Liz. Our fantastic music is composed by Daniel Belquer.