The current environmental situation of the Mediterranean Sea shows signs of progressive deterioration resulting from a range of human activities — densely and increasingly populated coastal region, coupled with tourism activities generate high pressure on the quality and security of supply of critical resources such as water, food, and energy in addition to increasing pollution. This creates a huge impact on vulnerable coastal and marine ecosystems and habitats.
Among these impacts is the loss and degradation of coastal and shallow marine ecosystems and the scarcity of coastal freshwater resources. This is compounded by the impacts of climate variability and change, mostly felt by the most vulnerable and poor populations.
The GEF-funded and UNEP-implemented MedProgramme is a response to these threats as it represents the first joint effort by nine Mediterranean countries and several partners.
The programme aims to operationalize priority actions to reduce major environmental stresses in its coastal areas, while strengthening climate resilience and water security and improving the health and livelihood of coastal populations. Activities are implemented through eight Child Projects, each one with concrete objectives and carried out by different Executing Partners.
Child Project 2.2 executed by Global Water Partnership Mediterranean (GWP-Med) focuses on the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus and plays a critical role in informing the policy and management paradigm of natural resources in the Mediterranean.
The project introduces practical assessment and consultation approaches related to Nexus striving to link with investment development, allowing the Water and Environmental policy and management approaches at the coastal and marine area to be informed by and/or inform the Energy and Agricultural decision making.
The Nexus approach also considers the “Source-to-Sea” approach going beyond Environment and Water objectives to addressing Energy and Agriculture issues. It thus facilitates sectoral and spatial integration through tracing the causes and providing solutions to interlinked challenges faced within and beyond the coastal zone.
Under the GEF/UNEP MedProgramme, the Lebanese authorities and GWP-Med are organizing multi-stakeholders consultation meetings and policy dialogues on the WEFE Nexus, including assessments to identify trade-offs among the WEFE sectors and solutions to address these. Two multi-stakeholder consultations were organized involving key international organizations, development agencies, financing partners, and the private sector.
These are aimed at creating the necessary conditions for dialogue and discussing short-medium-long term solutions to tackle the main causes behind the present challenges that the sectors are facing. Through this process, the relevant ministries formed a WEFE Nexus inter-ministerial group to implement solutions as well as strengthen dialogue among the 4 WEFE sectors in Lebanon.
The first consultation focused on mapping opportunities and benefits of the WEFE Nexus approach for environmental security in Lebanon. More than 70 stakeholders from Ministries, relevant institutions, international organizations, NGOs, development agencies, and the private sector gathered in August 2022 in Beirut, Lebanon.
The multi-stakeholders consultation allowed the participants to recognize the importance for a better integration of approaches related to the four sectors, including through the establishment of a systematic dialogue among the relevant actors. They also acknowledged the necessity for integration of the four sectors and the need to effectively address and manage trade-offs among them.
The 2nd multi-stakeholder consultation in February 2023 consolidated MedProgramme’s engagement towards sustainability in the Mediterranean Region through the promotion of synergistic efforts among the WEFE Nexus approach. This led to the preparation of a strategy for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and conjunctive surface and groundwater management interventions.
More than 90 stakeholders participated including representatives of relevant institutions, research centers, international organizations, experts, financial partners, NGOs, and gender groups to discuss and validate the preliminary findings of the activities undertaken so far in Lebanon under the Programme.
Co-organized by GWP-Med, Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC), Plan Bleu Regional Activity Centre (PB/RAC), and UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (UNESCO IHP), the Consultation came at a critical moment for the country that has been hit hard by multiple crisis.
Under the Nexus approach, linkages among the relevant sectors were identified and existing or potential trade-offs were assessed. This aims to identify solutions fostering security of supply for these resources and efficiency in their use, while reducing impacts and risks on ecosystems.
The implementation of the Nexus and “Source to Sea” approach in Lebanon through Child Project 2.2. is carried out in synergy with activities undertaken in the country towards the preparation of an ICZM Strategy and climate change adaptation approaches in ICZM planning that are implemented by other Executing Partners (PAP/RAC and Plan Bleu) under Child Project 2.1, another sub-component of the MedProgramme.
All above-mentioned activities are mutually strengthening and address linkages between land, water, delta, coast, nearshore, and marine ecosystems, leading to holistic natural resources management and economic development.
The outcomes of the consultation are instrumental in determining the ways forward in the formulation of Phase II of the National WEFE Nexus Dialogue, which is the future steps on building resilience and sustainability in the Lebanese coast and the way ahead for conjunctive water management.
For more information, please contact Olfat Hamdan at olfat.hamdan@un.org. You may also visit the project profile.
Read also: Libyan Marine Protected Areas | WEFE in Lebanon Information Notes
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