BEIRUT: As a small country, Lebanon punches above its weight in many spheres. Its financial sector is apparently invulnerable to global shocks; it has the largest stockpile of gold in the Middle East. Lebanon’s graduates are some to the best qualified on the planet; tri-lingual ex-pat businessmen and entrepreneurs frequently occupy top positions in corporations the world over. But when Prime Minister Saad Hariri spearheads his country’s delegation at this week’s COP15 climate change summit in Copenhagen he will bring with him perhaps the biggest Lebanese surfeit of all: carbon emissions. According to the Beirut-based environmental NGO, the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), Lebanon produces 0.07 percent of the world’s man-made CO2. Given Lebanon’s tiny population of around 4 million (no official census has been conducted here since 1936) its per-person CO2 emissions rate is 700 times greater than the global average. For its size, Lebanon is environmentally catastrophic. There are several reasons behind each Lebanese polluting so heavily. As desirably located as it is, on the shore of the eastern Mediterranean, with the soaring Mount Lebanon range giving way to the fertile Bekaa Valley plain, Lebanon possesses no natural resources. Its main power stations, at Jiyyeh and Zouq are oil powered, and coal – the worst fossil fuel in terms of carbon efficiency – accounts for a worryingly large proportion of electricity production. Wael Hmaidan, climate change coordinator at IndyACT Lebanon said that the Lebanese needed to wean themselves off fossil fuels at the soonest opportunity. “Coal produces more CO2 than anything else and coal [usage] will prevent Lebanon getting any assistance in the international energy sector. “The best alternative for Lebanon at the moment is to go into natural gas,†said Hmaidan. Liquefied gas production emits roughly 40 percent less CO2 than coal. “This way Lebanon will be reducing its emissions. Renewable energy needs to be introduced to Lebanon over the years, but gas can be deployed immediately and in significant amounts.†Environment Minister Mohammed Rahhal indicated on Friday that plans to introduce renewable energy into fuel-thirsty Lebanon were finally afoot. “We aim for 12 percent of Lebanon's energy to be produced through alternative sources by the year 2012,” he said during an environmental conference in Beirut, adding Lebanon should capitalize on its geography to harness plentiful renewable energy supplies. As laudable as this aim is, workable carbon cuts will require cross-party action, not least from the Public Works and Energy Ministries. Lebanon has no centralized transport system. Although its surface area of just over 10,000 sq km makes Lebanon one of the smallest countries in the world, accessing anywhere off the main coastal highway requires a car. This summer’s bumper tourist crop saw more than two million visitors swell Lebanon’s already creaking infrastructure. The year-round traffic that cloys at Beirut’s streets worsened; an estimated 600,000 cars were imported to allow rich visitors – overwhelmingly from the Gulf – to truly enjoy Lebanon as their playground, contributing to its comically-oversized carbon footprint in the process. Najib Saab, secretary general of AFED, said that current taxation laws encourage people to act with environmental abandon. “There are no regulations on the use of electrical water heaters, for example,†he said. “You pay more tax on a hybrid car than you pay on a conventional car. This is crazy. “Our calculations show that we can cut emissions by 40 percent by still using conventional fuels but in a more efficient way. Regardless of climate change, this should be done.†Water supply is another concern for Hariri’s delegation. Less than one square kilometer in 10 of Lebanese soil is suitable irrigated. President Michel Sleiman recently put his weight behind plans to build damns in the south to safeguard water supply in what is proving a controversial proposal. Garabed Kazanjian, Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace Lebanon, said that damns were not the energy and water-supply panacea that many officials had claimed. “As a solution to water problems, we can build reservoirs to trap rainwater, and use according to our needs,†he said. The dearth of domestic environmental information risks undermining Lebanon’s negotiating position at Copenhagen, according to Hmaidan. “Lebanon needs to strengthen its position radically,†he says. “The negotiations go into technical details and so far the Lebanese position hasn’t gone into the required details. “In Copenhagen they are going to talk about numbers. If Lebanon lacks numbers we are not going to be able to have a strong position.†Hmaidan’s plea for concrete figures was partly answered by Rahhal on Friday, although the data made for uncomfortable reading. “The state loses up to 550 million dollars (365 million euros) to pollution annually, 100 million of which is due to climate change,” he said. The tourism, health and agriculture sectors will be worst affected by the losses, Rahhal added. Lebanon consumes an estimated 8.42 billion kWh of electricity a year, placing it 90th in the world. Considering that it is the world’s 169th largest country, Lebanon chews through far more than its fair share of voltage. It is also the 78th highest consumer of oil. Wars have taken their own toll on Lebanon’s ability to be environmentally friendly. Areas of Lebanon are frequently without power; even in Beirut, every household suffers at least three hours a day with no electricity. This is partly a result of mismanagement and partly a product of Israel’s devastating 2006 July-August assault, which damaged vital infrastructure across swaths of the country, including the aforementioned Jiyyeh plant. Petrol-powered generators take up the slack, pumping ever more carbon into the air. For hours at a time each day, every building in Lebanon becomes its own mini-power station. Military and non-military cleanup operations also contribute hugely to Lebanon’s carbon footprint, although no statistics on the Lebanese Army and Air Force’s emissions are available from the Ministry of Information. Whatever the outcome of Copenhagen, Lebanon’s politicians appear to be realizing that climate change can no longer be overlooked. The need for action is pressing and the political will is growing. A good thing too, according to Hmaidan: “If we don’t work on climate change there is no need to work on anything else.†BM
