The Lebanese Sustainable Consumption and Production National Action Plan (SCP-NAP) was developed under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) in close collaboration with the Ministry of Industry (MoI) and other key partners under the EU funded SwitchMed programme. with advisory services and technical support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Plan is part of Lebanon’s efforts to achieve Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. The SCP-NAP (SDG 12.1) prioritizes the mainstreaming of SCP in the industrial sector’s policies and plans and as developed in a participatory and consultative approach. SCP-NAP Summary was also available. Switch to Circular Economy: Under SwitchMed II, a short document "How Lebanon is switching to a Circular Economy" was prepared to present an overview on how the country is implementing activities/policies/programs on SCP and Circular Economy.In this document you will see 10 success stories inspired by the work of SwitchMed in the Lebanese Republic. They show how what began in workshops developed into plans that created a ripple that flowed out around the country. This short publication shows that opportunities for countries from sustainable consumption and production are rich and varied. The Switch to SCP is off and running. SwitchMed is proud to have supported Lebanon in its work to build a society where people and planet thrive and prosper together. Lebanon has already developed integrated plans and a regulatory framework that have SCP at their core. For some time now, it has been building on these, expanding its waste reduction plan, establishing a circular economy, and further developing its work on sustainable water managements and energy solutions. It is clear that SCP is no longer just something discussed in meeting rooms. Now it is happening on the ground, across business and industry, in cities and regions, reducing pollution, improving the air we breathe, and promoting better use of nature’s gifts through resource-efficient and low-carbon consumption and production practices. Demonstration project: UNEP work with Lebanese NGO - Nusaned under SwitchMed II in Lebanon on a community-based pilot in the Mar Mikhael - Gemmayze area in Beirut which seeks to address the challenges of reduction and prevention of food waste and packaging waste to divert them from landfills using concepts of SCP and circular economy. The outputs include: Green and Circular Restaurants Project Report Plastics Circle Report Food Circle Report Guideline for Restaurants Eateries to become Green and Circular For each of these documents 2-page and 10-page factsheet/summary delivered: Nudawwer Project Nudawwer Food Circle Nudawwer Plastics Circle Nudawwer Green and Circular Restaurants SM II Lebanon Nudawwer SM II Lebanon Nudawwer Food Circle SM II Lebanon Nudawwer Plastics Circle SM II Lebanon Nudawwer Green and Circular Restaurants Policy recommendations of the different “circles” Next steps will be the organization of national restitution events and the preparation of communication and awareness raising material. We looking forward to replicate this collaboration in the other on-going projects under SwitchMed II with the Hariri Foundation in Saida.
Nature and water are now shaping core commercial and policy decisions in sustainable construction. In the UK, the proposed relaxation of Biodiversity Net Gain rules has triggered warnings from the UK Green Building Council and hundreds of construction firms that such a move would undermine investor confidence and the national transition toward environmental sustainability in construction. Developers have already embedded whole life carbon assessment, life cycle cost analysis and circular economy principles into planning, design, and procurement. Disrupting these frameworks could increase the carbon footprint of construction, delay projects, and erode progress toward net zero carbon buildings.
Water stewardship is becoming integral to sustainable building design across global markets. Urban developers are incorporating resilience to drought and flooding into low carbon building strategies, supported by green infrastructure and eco-design for buildings that reduce embodied carbon in materials. The growing threat to glaciers and polar ice is now influencing insurance and asset valuation, making life cycle thinking in construction an essential discipline for managing climate-related risk.
Layoffs across carbon capture enterprises reinforce the need for immediate decarbonisation within the built environment through material efficiency, adaptive reuse, and low embodied carbon materials. The construction sector is prioritising renewable building materials, resource efficiency in construction and sustainable building practices that deliver measurable reductions in embodied carbon. These measures align with BREEAM and BREEAM v7 standards and strengthen pathways to net zero whole life carbon performance.
Firms that adopt sustainable material specification, implement end-of-life reuse in construction and apply circular construction strategies demonstrate long-term value creation within a low carbon design framework. Such practices support carbon footprint reduction, enhance building lifecycle performance, and accelerate the shift toward carbon neutral construction. By treating ecology and hydrology as structural parameters, not optional aesthetics, the industry is defining a future in which sustainable design, circular economy in construction and whole life carbon management drive resilience, profitability, and genuine sustainability.
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