Zawaya

Better governance would boost environmental preservation programs

By: Adel Rochdy

Environmental issues are a major new challenge for the Arab Maghreb States. Global warming and its consequences such as drought, desertification, floods, re-emerging diseases, declining agricultural productivity and economic growth; are all issues that require the mobilization of considerable financial and human resources, because according to experts, the cost of dealing with pollution issues alone is estimated at more than two Euros per tonne of carbon.

Global warming kills 300,000 people each year, and the UN has started identifying the first climate refugees.

The decision of Maghreb States to develop common measures aims to lighten the consequences of global warming, while continuing to work towards sustainable development by trying to invest more in technologies that are both innovative and less polluting, in order to protect their ecosystems.

This is a colossal program for countries whose unification process is far from reaching its cruising speed, especially when heavy investments are involved for issues related to the style and conditions of life of citizens in the region.

For Maghreb States, energy production must double in order to meet the demands of their increasing populations. Moreover, according to recent estimates, Maghreb countries should create at least 25 million jobs for the next decade. There is also another critical issue related to the vital agricultural sector which must be resolved, namely building-up water cycles: desalination, treatment, and irrigation. That is the main challenge of the Maghreb.

Since environmental issues are closely linked, it is only logical that the preservation of the ecosystem in the Maghreb requires efforts focused on collective awareness, behavioral change (saving water and energy), investment in knowledge, and joint investments through the creation of companies working in development.

In the Maghreb, problems do not have the same magnitude for all countries. The main issue that needs to be resolved is the same for all, i.e. preserving the ecosystem and maintaining sustainable growth, but damages are certainly not the same everywhere in the region. While Mauritania is suffering terribly from the degradation of its ecosystem; Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia triggered a large-scale cleanup process that was initiated individually, and which tends – through collective awareness – to turn into a common project by the implementation of common measures.

This initiative is praiseworthy. However, it requires good governance, strengthening democracy and a massive amount of money.