Ecology and Sustainability

The Lebanese Commission for Environment and Development in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Middle East Office have the pleasure to invite you to a panel discussion entitled 'After the Paris Agreement and the Marrakech Calls - How will Lebanon Deal with Its Commitments on Climate Change?' Place: The Green Room at the Ministry of Environment Monday, December 5, 2016 between 10:00 and 13:00 Discussions with representatives from the Lebanese Commission for Environment and Development, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Energy and Water, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

The UN climate summit in Marrakech from 7 to 18 November, is the crucial next step for operationalizing the Paris Agreement. Many controversial issues such as damages caused by climate change and financing for the poorest countries are on the agenda.

Poor environmental awareness, lack of funding and support, and an insufficient understanding of the problem - these are some of the obstacles blocking adequate action on climate change by many NGOs in Lebanon.

The contribution of the Arab world to global Green House Gas (GHG) emissions is estimated at 4.2%. This includes extreme variations such as the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) producing 85% of the region’s GHG emissions, and Qatar having one of the world’s largest per capita carbon footprints while Yemen has one of the world’s smallest. Overall the region has some of the highest emissions intensity (tonnes CO2 equivalent /GDP) in the world.

Heinrich Böll Foundation (hbs), represented through its offices in Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia and Morocco, welcomes applicants from Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa to apply for its Regional Summer School 2016 that will take place between 14-18 August 2016 in Amman, Jordan. 

Finding an answer to the question of how to deal with global climate change is no easy feat and the issue has been setting challenges for international politics for decades. A scientific advisory body was established in Germany, with the aim to support the German government in the field of climate politics. The so-called WBGU, the German Advisory Council on Global Change, analyses climate change and its consequences in its role as an independent institution and compiles action plans for political decision-makers. In 2014, the WBGU published a report on ‘Climate Protection as a World Citizen Movement’ on behalf of the German federal government departments. In its report, the advisory board clarifies that climate change is occurring and that the human population plays an important role in it. The WBGU presents suggestions for the climate conference in Paris and lays particular emphasis on the shared responsibility of protagonists at all levels. It is time for global civil society to take on more responsibility, according to the report. Yet that is not the solution.