On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, Lebanon took an important step toward a more sustainable future with the Lebanon Green Forward Conference 2025. Organised by the Business Incubation Association in Tripoli (BIAT), in partnership with SPARK, the conference was part of the Green Forward programme’s meso-level intervention, funded by the European Union, and was hosted at the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli (CCIAT). As part of the Green Forward programme (meso level) in Lebanon, the conference became a pivotal space for shaping the country’s green economy transition and strengthening collaboration among key actors. About 100 participants gathered, including Business Support Organisations (BSOs), SMEs, policymakers, experts from Lebanon, and the wider Southern Neighbourhood, as well as many stakeholders committed to Lebanon’s economic and environmental development. The event served as a hub for knowledge exchange, partnership-building, and the launch of a national roadmap to guide the transition toward a green and circular economy.

Funded by the European Union, the Green Forward initiative aims to foster a green and circular economy in the Southern Neighbourhood region, covering 8 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The programme works at three levels: macro, meso, and micro, implemented respectively by a consortium comprising Expertise France, SPARK, and UNIDO. SPARK leads the meso-level activities in the 7 following countries Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia in partnership with its implementing partners: GESR – Misr El Kheir Foundation (Egypt), the Jordan Chamber of Industry – JCI / The Center of Energy and Environmental Sustainability in the Industry – CEESI (Jordan), and Tunis International Center for Environmental Technologies – CITET (Tunisia) as co-applicants; and Business Incubation Association in Tripoli – BIAT (Lebanon), and TEAM for Training & Development (Libya), Enactus (Morocco), and Flow Accelerator (Palestine) as implementing partners.

In Lebanon and across the Southern Mediterranean, the programme’s goal is to strengthen the capacity of BSOs to act as ecosystem enablers, helping bridge the gap between policy and practice. At its meso level, Green Forward does this by addressing the practical needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in adopting sustainable and circular economy practices. The programme  commits to fostering job creation, economic opportunity, and alignment with the principles of the European Green Deal in Lebanon and beyond by equipping BSOs with tools, training, and opportunities for regional collaboration.