Republic of Lebanon - Water sector : public expenditure review Date: 2010-05-17 Author: World Bank The state of the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector in Lebanon is not in line with the level of economic development reached by the country. Despite the relatively high coverage rate in the water sector (78 percent), continuity of supply is extremely low. The Beirut Mount Lebanon (BML) region, which accounts for 60 percent of total connected households, receives only three hours of daily water supply during the summer season. The development of the wastewater sector is still at an embryonic stage. There are a few waste water treatment plants in operation, all of which are small. Water storage capacity is inadequate to meet irrigation water demand, and is far below the level of other MENA countries. The present public expenditure aims at examining efficiency and effectiveness in the allocation of resources in the water sector. In conducting the research and analysis, the team observed a contrasted reality in which a multitude of issues afflicting the sector emerged. Alongside the public expenditure analysis, the study presents an in-depth diagnosis of the water sector in Lebanon and the issues it is facing. The analysis focuses primarily on water supply, encompassing to a lesser extent sanitation and irrigation, due to the scarcer information available on the latter two sub-sectors. The public expenditure review addresses the following main questions: what progress has Lebanon made in reforming the water sector? What are the main weaknesses still characterizing its current institutional setting? Is the water sector performance in line with the level of economic development in the country? What are the key issues faced by consumers in the water sector? Has public expenditure been adequate to meet the development needs of the sector? What is the level of efficiency of public investment? What are the key sources of hidden costs in the water sector? What are the main accountability weaknesses which should be overcome to improve efficiency in the delivery of water supply and sanitation services in Lebanon? What policy actions are needed to improve sector performance and meet the development needs of the sector?

National Bioenergy Strategy for Lebanon 2012 Lebanon has a relatively abundant availability of bioenergy resources as approximately one third of the country’s land is arable, with the most fertile areas being located along the coastal strip and in the Beqaa valley. Traditional use of biomass in rural areas is intensive; however, the development of sustainable bioenergy is lagging behind the modest goals that have been formulated in the past. The goal of this study is to define and develop thoroughly all key elements to be considered in the formulation of the National Bioenergy Strategy for Lebanon. This Strategy shall contribute decisively to the Government’s goal of achieving 12% of the country’s total energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2020. The objective of this study is to assess the realistic and sustainable biomass potential in the country and match it with the most suitable conversion technologies that mitigate environmental, economic and social impacts produced by the bioenergy development in the country.

The National Wind Atlas of Lebanon January 2011 Garrad Hassan The United Nations Development Programme (the “Client”) has requested that Garrad Hassan and Partners Ltd (“GH”) provide consultancy services for the Republic of Lebanon (“Lebanon”). The Client has instructed GH to carry out mesoscale and microscale modelling for the entire Republic of Lebanon to produce a wind map with a resolution of 100 m. The results of this modelling work are reported here.

Lebanon Water Policy Program (LWPP) - Final Report May 2007 The Lebanon Water Policy Program (LWPP), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is an ambitious program working on sensitive policy and financial issues related to public private partnerships, water utility management and tariff pricing at the national and local levels. During its four years of operations (September 2002 – March 2007), LWPP worked at both the national and regional levels with the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) and Lebanese water establishments to provide assistance in the following four areas: (1) technical assistance; (2) institutional strengthening; (3) policy making and; (4) capacity building. Close coordination took place between the program, the funding agency and the beneficiaries to make the best use of the tools provided by the program and maximize results. LWPP pursued a demand-driven approach based on continuous communication with the beneficiaries to assess their needs and adapt operations. This was the major reason to increase the credibility of the program in the eyes of the beneficiaries, especially during the critical change period in the water sector following the approval of the by-laws of the newly formed water establishments.

Social Impact Analysis - Electricity and Water Sectors June 2009 The purpose of this Social Impact Analysis (SIA) is to probe the social, poverty, and equity dimensions of electricity and water sector reforms' and provide meaningful analysis to policy makers based on recently collected data. With a focus on households, the end users of utility services, the study complements the recent and ongoing studies on the Lebanon water and energy sectors that deal with more technical and supply side issues. The study assesses how poor and vulnerable households are affected by the current utility service situation and how they may be affected by reform proposals under deliberation. The aim is to provide policy makers with a deeper understanding of the social dimensions of water and electricity consumption as well as tools for estimating the distributional impacts of reform measures. This study followed the Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) approach, an increasingly common approach, used both within and outside the World Bank to evaluate the distributional impacts of policy reforms. Chapter two provides a review of household electricity supply and demand, private generation, tariffs, expenditures, and willingness to pay. It is followed by a discussion of the distributional impact of the tariff structure, including simulations of tariff scenarios for illustrative purposes. Chapter three reviews the water sector, public water supply, household connections, water quality issues, alternate water sources, tariffs, expenditures, and willingness to pay.

Policy Paper: The Electricty Sector June 2010 This policy paper, from the Ministry of Energy and Water, constitutes a global framework for the electric energy sector in Lebanon, and includes ten strategic initiatives that are integrated and correlated to cover the sector’s infrastructure, supply/demand, and the legal aspects. The initiatives are developed into identified plans of action with required budget, financing schemes, and timeframe. The elimination/delay of any initiative and action will lead to losing the policy objective of rescuing the power sector from the current drastic situation to a new sustainable, reliable, and efficient delivery of electricity. A transitional rescue period of 3 - 4 years is required to achieve the goals of this policy.

Youth Declaration on Environmental Policies August 2007 This booklet contains the final project results as well as the research results pertaining to four environmental issues as selected by the project’s youth participants: Air Pollution, Land Management and quarries, water and waste water and solid waste. Language: Arabic and English