BEIRUT-The Daily Star The Central Bank is working closely with the Environment Ministry and international organizations to promote environmental sustainability in Lebanon, Governor Riad Salameh said Tuesday at a workshop entitled “Subsidized Loans to Fight Environmental Pollution in Lebanon.”

 

The efforts are part of the Lebanon Environmental Pollution Abatement Project (LEPAP), which aims to reduce pollution in industrial enterprises and to strengthen the monitoring and enforcement capabilities of the Environment Ministry.

 

LEPAP is a joint initiative between the Environment and Finance Ministries, Lebanon’s Central Bank, the World Bank and the Italian Cooperation.

 

Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk said the program provides financial incentives to help industrial enterprises reduce pollution as the ministry works on establishing a comprehensive framework for industrial waste management.

 

Under the LEPAP program, the Central Bank provides – through commercial banks – subsidized loans to industrial institutions, which also benefit from the Lebanese government’s support.

 

The Lebanese government has received $15 million in financing from the World Bank and 2.3 million Euros from the Italian government to support the Environment Ministry in managing the LEPAP project, according to Gianandrea Sandri, director of the Italian Cooperation Office in Beirut.

 

Salameh said the LEPAP represents another successful model of cooperation between the Central Bank, public institutions, international organizations and the private sector.

 

The project is the second initiative launched by the Central Bank to promote environmental sustainability in Lebanon, building on the successful National Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Action (NEEREA) program.

 

NEEREA is a national financing mechanism initiated by the Central Bank, in collaboration with the Finance and Energy Ministries, the UNDP, the EU and the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation.

 

There are 260 loans amounting to $380 million that have been granted through NEEREA so far, creating more than 6,000 job opportunities across Lebanon, Salameh said.

 

As part of the NEEREA project, the Energy Ministry is expected to finish constructing a 1-Megawatt solar power plant on Beirut River in early 2015.