Experts Examine Climate Change in the Arab World

Professor Jad Chaaban

In a lecture organized by the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI), economists Jad Chaaban and Souheil Abboud said that carbon-related climate change is a serious problem that Arab countries can help resolve through a voluntary reduction of their carbon emissions.

Held on March 25 in West Hall and entitled "Climate Change and Carbon Emissions Trading in the Arab World: A Realistic Answer to the Dangers Ahead," the talk was the third in the Impact of Climate Change on the Arab World Lecture Series, organized by the IFI-sponsored Research and Policy Forum on Climate Change and Environment in the Arab World. While providing a mechanism that brings together academics, researchers, and policymakers to formulate environmental policies in the Arab world, the program aims to mitigate the impact of expected climate change scenarios and other environmental challenges worldwide.

Chaaban, assistant professor of economics at AUB, holds a master's degree in economics of the environment and natural resources and a PhD in economics from the Toulouse School of Economics. He warned that Beirut will be flooded by the sea in 2108 if global warming persists, explaining that anthropogenic carbon emissions constitute 77 percent of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change today.

Chaaban, whose main research interests include the industrial organization of agro-food sectors and environmental economics, said that carbon emissions have a "spillover effect" that translates into a multidimensional deleterious impact on the global economy in areas like food and water-related industries. Pointing out that developing countries situated in geographically vulnerable areas are especially affected by climate change, he outlined empirical evidence about the possibility of the Arab world reducing its carbon emissions at relatively low costs. Still, he concluded, the Arab governments today are either skeptical about the reality of climate change or reluctant to fund programs that would help improve the situation.

Abboud, the Middle East regional director of EcoSecurities, said that his company is "the leader in the business of sourcing, developing, and trading carbon credits in the global market today." According to the 2005 Kyoto Protocol, an international and binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, the developing Arab world is not legally bound to reduce its carbon emissions. Consequently, Abboud said, EcoSecurities provides certified emission reduction commodities and incentives for Arab governments and institutions willing to reduce their emissions on a voluntary basis.

Also Abboud spoke assertively about the economic viability of transforming the private and public sectors in the Arab world into "carbon-neutral zones."