To help prepare the Lebanese industry to adapt to EU environmental rules and efforts to move toward a green single market, the EU-funded SwitchMed programme offers guidance to stakeholders from the Lebanese industry exporting to the European single market on how to demonstrate a product’s environmental performance, preparing the industry of Lebanon for the future.

The SwitchMed initiative will include:

1. An awareness raising event on 6 March (to be confirmed) for relevant policy-makers, associations and companies that have a direct interest in the export of Lebanese products to Europe, to present and discuss the potential policies and the consequences for companies exporting to the EU. Part of the discussion will be on how to define a similar pilot project in Lebanon from the industrial sectors which took part in the Product Environmental Footprints (PEF) project in EU (e.g. wine or paper), in order to get a direct comparative result and enable better understanding of the future competitiveness of Lebanese industries in the EU market.

2. Two trainings to create the capacity needed to provide correct information on environmental footprints of products. The first training will be a generic Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the second is on the detailed rules that are specific for the product groups that will be in the national pilot.

3. Developing a pilot to test how the PEF rules will work for Lebanese products from one product category. The pilot will be closely supported by UNIDO and the selected local LCA experts.

The SwitchMed sustainable consumption and production programme aims to promote a switch by the Mediterranean economies towards sustainable consumption and production patterns and green economy, including low-emission development, through demonstration and dissemination of methods that improve resource and energy efficiency. It also seeks to minimise the environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of products and services and, where possible, to promote renewable energy.

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Press release 

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