UNEP Initiative on Capacity Building for Integrated Assessment and Planning for Sustainable Developm

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Lebanon - ENP

• UNEP Initiative on Capacity Building for
  Integrated Assessment and Planning for
  Sustainable Development
• Mid-term Review Meeting
• Geneva, February 16-17, 2005

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Brief Description of the Project

• General objective and expected outcome
• Support and enhance national planning process,
• Provide decision makers with an assessment of
  potential impacts that could be integrated in
  future planning processes,
• Develop a standard approach to assessing
  trade-related issues on different social,
  environmental and economic issues.

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Brief Description of the Project

• Specific objective and expected outcome
• Perform an integrated assessment of trade
  liberalization with the EU on specific sectors of
  the economy
• Identify trade-environmental-social interlinkages
• Identify national priorities, outline action
  plans
• Government institutions leading the project
  MOET,MOE

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Description of the Project Process

• Initiation of the project Project headed by
  MOET, in collaboration with MOE, with the
  technical assistance of UNEP
• Organizational management Multidisciplinary team

Development Economist
Environmental Economist
Legal expert
EU Unit Economic Research Center
Trade Specialist
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Description of the Project Process

• Activities undertaken so far

Collection of all available data and sources
Mapping of economic, social environmental
situation
Identification of key issues, stakeholders
Methodology and tools for the assessment
Country report Assessment of Planning Process
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Key Stakeholders Involvement
MOET / UNEP

• Social NGOs
• Environmental NGOs
• UNDP
• Academics
• World Bank

Civil Society
MOE
Public Sector

• Ministries
• Municipalities

Private Sector

• Chambers
• Associations

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Description and Rationale of the Planning Process

• - Initiation - Lebanese gvt and EU -
  Consultations with stakeholders
• Current situation analyzed Ad hoc studies and
  consultations
• Design of strategies consultations SWOT
  analysis (assessment of main risks in the
  non-optimality of trade liberalization)
• Design of actions Grace period agreed upon,
  detailed negotiations on specific products
• Implementation arrangements Technical assistance
  from the EU for trade facilitation to overcome
  these challenges and maximize benefits

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Description and Rationale of the Planning Process

• Main gaps and weaknesses of the substance of the
  Planning process
• Structural
• absence of a formal institutional framework guide
  to monitor trade lib.
• Consultations with key stakeholders are not
  regular
• Lack of participation minority groups (farmers
  in poor rural areas) inaccessible
• Absence of social and environmental assessments
• Technical
• shortage of human resources, data very limited
• Absence of integration of ESE issues and their
  linkages within sustainability framework
• no formal institution allowing for horizontal
  integration of the planning process

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Tools and methods used to overcome the weaknesses
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
-SWOT analysis -consultations -renegotiations
-Customs data -Analysis of trade patterns
-general environmental studies

• Main advantages and shortcomings of these tools
• -increase transparency, and technical analysis
• -didnt overcome the weaknesses
• lack of environmental and social assessments
  minority groups excluded ESE linkages with SD
  not addressed irregularities of consultations

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Key Economic, Social and Environmental Issues
Association Agreement
Environmental issues
Economic issues
Social issues

• overuse of resources
• degradation of land coastal areas
• air pollution
• industrial pollution
• Water pollution
• biodiversity

• Trade liberalization
• Increased Trade with EU
• Increase local production
• Promote business environment
• Attract FDI
• Facilitate technology transfer
• Increase productivity
• Competitiveness of productive sectors

• Unemployment
• Standards of living
• Access to basic needs
• Access to health

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Description of AA

• AA consists on 3 major components

Political and Security Issues
Partnership social/human affairs
Economic Financial Partnership
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Economic Issues

• Agriculture -6 of GDP 20 of Foreign
  Trade -subject to non-trade barriers from the
  EU
• -low subsidies compared to EU
• Industry -19 of GDP Increased share in trade
• -subject to non-trade barriers from the EU
• -Largely SMEs with no economies of scale
• Services - Trade accounts for 21 of GDP

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Social Issues

• Unemployment
• - 11.2, the youth, women and unskilled
• -structural, long periods, education-job
  market gap
• Standards of living
• -widening social disparities (regional,
  income, access to health and education)
• Access to basic needs
• -7.1 of households suffer from very low
  satisfaction of basic needs mainly in rural areas

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Environmental Issues

• Environment
• overuse of resources
• degradation of land and coastal areas
• air pollution
• waste management , industrial pollution

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Inter-linkages
Trade with EU
Environment
Social
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Inter-linkages

• Industry
• -19 of GDP, 14 of total labor force, 1.1
  billion exports.
• -composition of industrial produce will be
  affected by trade
• - will impact the labor market
• -redistribution effect
• -environmental effect

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Preliminary Results of using tools and methods

• Tools Methods used
• Informal consultations within MOET
• Data collection
• Qualitative analysis
• Preliminary results
• Country report assessment

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Challenges

• The neighborhood policy scope and potential
  dynamic impacts
• The countrys economic ability to optimize the
  benefits of trade liberalization and to conduct
  necessary structural adjustments to be able to
  cope with it
• Vertical integration
• Having a specific action plan
• Maximize stakeholder involvement and interest
• Measurement of the inter-linkage btw social and
  economic, and how the social and the environment
  could impede the positive impacts of trade
  liberalization if not taken seriously
• Identification of priorities and access to
  minority groups
• Ability to assess key sustainability indicators
  (poor and irregular), to identify comparative
  advantages and potential impacts on
  social-economic/environmental sectors

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Planned Activities and Next Steps
Action Plan
CGE
database
Country report
Workshops
Results of CGE
Policy Implications
The tools will be selected in consultation with
experts and key stakeholders
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Planned Activities and Next Steps

• Environmental assessment risk assessment
  identification of key sustainability issues
• Social assessment stakeholder analysis and
  mapping
• Economic assessment CGE, Scenarios development
• Integrative assessment inter-sectoral
  cause-effect chains
• Sustainability assessment
• Participatory process steering committee- focus
  groups- stakeholders workshops

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Thank you for your attention!