The Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative (LOGI) in collaboration with Publish What You Pay (PWYP) and Friedrich Eibert Stiftung- Lebanon launched a project aiming to strengthen civil society participation in Lebanon’s oil and gas sector development and mitigate the social and environmental impacts of resource extraction. 

In 2014 and in response to demands from civil society, the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) released its Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), which evaluates the likely environmental and social impact of introducing and developing oil and gas activities in Lebanon. The study (attached below) highlights risks including upsetting offshore ecology; potential for mismanagement of waste (produced by drilling and exploration) which can damage fragile ecosystems; potential for water and air pollution; and a potential adverse impact on fish stocks and the wider fishing industry. In addition, onshore and offshore drilling activities may cause temporary or sustained impacts on coastal and marine tourism in Lebanon and on sites of historic value.

The SEA, an 800-page document, is highly complex and incomprehensible to the Lebanese public. This project’s objective was to synthesize, recommend, and disseminate the findings of the SEA in a more comprehensible way to citizens, civil society, media and decision makers.