The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with support from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Lebanon, have partnered to jointly prepare Lebanon: State of the Environment and Future Outlook: Turning the Crises into Opportunities (SOER’20) report in close collaboration with the Ministry of Environment.
RHU professor Dr. Renalda S. El Samra, Civil and Environmental Department Chairperson, wrote Chapter 9 “Climate Change and Energy” of the report where she consolidated, analyzed and presented the latest available data on this sector in Lebanon.
She also provided forward looking scenarios for the future which include (a) a negative outlook that is based on the current situation and status quo and (b) a more positive outlook that considers these crises as opportunities to build Lebanon forward and break the country’s current unsustainable path.
As the multiple crises that Lebanon is experiencing continue to negatively affect the environment across the board, there is a real risk that the positive gains made could be reversed and that the country could face accelerated environmental emergencies of greater impact. This is notwithstanding the fact that the continued climate degradation will likely further exacerbate Lebanon’s overall crises.