Lebanon and Climate Change

The UN Information Centre in Beirut, in cooperation with the Association for Forests Development and Conservation (AFDC), held a one-day workshop entitled “Lebanon and Climate Change” at the UN House, in the presence of Lebanese Member of Parliament Akram Chehayeb, representatives from a number of Lebanese ministries, the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), and several NGOs.    

The workshop was held under the overall theme of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and as part of the Seal the Deal campaign initiated by the UN to encourage governments to adopt a fair, balanced and effective agreement on climate change at the upcoming UN conference to be held in December in Copenhagen.

Participants in the meeting emphasized the grave impacts of climate change on Lebanon and ways to counter them. They also stressed the effects of climate change on our lives and the danger of rising greenhouse gas emissions.

Participants also issued a series of recommendations to be submitted to the UN and the Copenhagen meeting. The main proposal endorsed by the workshop was for the establishment of a national committee comprising all ministries and official administrations concerned, alongside relevant civil society groups, academia and environmental media with the purpose of charting a local and international strategy for Lebanon on climate change. Another recommendation of the meeting was to activate the Lebanese environmental observatory for studies and researches on the matter.

The meeting also called for the establishment of a communications committee made up of representatives of the civil society in cooperation with the relevant ministries and media to raise awareness on climate change. It stressed the importance of giving enough support to the “Seal the Deal” campaign and gathering as many signatures for it as possible in Lebanon.

Participants agreed that there should be a financing mechanism in the context of the UNFCCC, and that a major position of the funds should come from the public sector and government budgets.  They called on developed countries that will come together in Copenhagen to offer sufficient financial and technical support to establish national committees in developing countries and draw up long-term plans on climate change.

At the opening, UNIC Beirut Director Bahaa Elkoussy laid out the importance of protecting the environment for Lebanon. “Climate change is the most important geo-political issue today,” he said.  “It affects everything from the health of our economy to the health of our citizens’ health, from energy security to development and international security.”

AFDC Director Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine called for activating and enforcing laws on safeguarding ecological systems, boosting reforestation to reach 20 percent in the next 15 years and adopting green policies.
 
Climate change has already started having an impact on Lebanon. The rise of sea levels and a reduction in precipitation by about 20 percent were beginning to have dire consequences on the country’s environment, she added.

Dr. Elie Awad from the Industry Ministry pointed out that almost 70 percent of the total emissions created by the industrial sector are due to four cement plants in Lebanon. He stressed the need for “cleaner combustion processes and the need for environmentally-friendly equipment in response to cement-import limitations.”

MP Akram Shehayeb said although Lebanon only produces 0.073 percent of global CO2 emissions, there is still a strong need for greener solutions to domestic industrial growth, transport and waste. He also stressed the need for civic responsibility, saying “Here in Lebanon, someone will sweep their yard and push their rubbish on to their neighbor’s yard. We must seek to change this mentality.”

Lebanon has pledged to reduce emissions to levels within the global carbon budget: the measure by which the world’s carbon cycle can be balanced.

Although desires to reduce global fossil-fuel emissions by 95 percent in 2050 seem a long way off, speakers at Friday’s workshop said there was a pressing need for global action in order to ensure a sustainable future for coming generations.