Summary

LEPAP is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Environment (MoE), the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Banque Du Liban (BDL), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (WB), the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and aims to set up a mechanism for the environmental compliance of the industrial sector in Lebanon. The development objectives of LEPAP is to reduce industrial pollution in targeted industrial enterprises and to strengthen the monitoring and enforcement capabilities of the MoE through the provision of free of charge technical assistance and through establishing a financial mechanism for supporting pollution abatement investments.

Background

The industrial sector in Lebanon is an important pillar of the economy contributing to roughly 21.5% of the country’s GDP in 2010. While in 2007 the Lebanese industrial sector grew at a rate of 13%, political uncertainty in the region has slowed industrial growth to 3% since 2010.Significant sub-sectors include cement production, fertilizer production, manufacturing industries, agro-industries and food processing.

The adverse impacts associated with industrial pollution in Lebanon are moderate and affect mainly the population living in urban and industrial areas. Nevertheless, industrial activities in Lebanon are putting greater pressures on the environment, while becoming increasingly prominent and visible. The World Bank Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) for Lebanon (2011) estimated the cost of environmental degradation (COED) in Lebanon at US$800 million (equivalent to 3.7% of GDP). The largest proportion is attributed to water pollution (1.08% of GDP), followed by air pollution (0.7% of GDP).

The Government of Lebanon (GOL) has demonstrated a strong commitment to tackle industrial pollution and encourage green investments through a combination of regulations and incentives that were recently introduced by the Ministry of Environment (MOE). Improvements to the environmental legal framework include the following:

• The enactment of the Framework Law for the Protection of Environment (444-2002)
• The Health Care Waste Management Decree (8006-2002)
• Four key environmental decrees passed in 2012 which are the following: (a) the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Decree, (b) the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Decree, (c) the establishment of the National Council for the Environment; and (d) the establishment of the environmental compliance certification system (Decree 8471-2012)

However, Lebanon’s track record of enforcement and compliance has been poor. The fact that MOE is not the only the only enforcement agency further complicates the implementation of environmental laws. The costliness and technical complexity of recently enacted laws also poses some challenges. GOL therefore seeks to pursue a sequenced approach, by first targeting priority industrial areas/sectors and assisting individual industries towards achieving compliance. 

Therefore, there is crucial necessity to identify actions aiming at remedying the challenges which should be implemented gradually and should focus first on issues that affect public health and natural resources degradation. These actions should be driven by the performance record of GOL to engage in policy reforms, improve governance and accountability in specific and well defined pollution management systems that are considered to be the cornerstone for Lebanon’s transition to environmental sustainability.