L I B Y A THE URGENT TRANSITION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY The Environment General Authority, Tripoli Copyright © 2013 by R. J. A. Goodland ISBN: 978-0-9792179-0-6 Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Author: Goodland, Robert J. A. Title: Libya: The Urgent Transition to Environmental Sustainability, 152 pp. [For] The Environment General Authority, Tripoli, Libya Date of Publication: 2013 Photo credits. Page 106: Libya’s Date Palms, Al Jufrah Oases project, funded by the Directorate General for Development Cooperation of the Italian Foreign Ministry and coordinated by the Istituto Agronomico per l’Oltremare, Florence, in collaboration with the Libyan Ministry of Agriculture, http://www.libyandates.com/english/. Page 111: Addax photo by Philippe Chardonnet, courtesy La Fondation IGF. 2 LIBYA: THE URGENT TRANSITION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY By Robert Goodland Electronic version available from: [email protected], or www.goodlandrobert.com September 2013 3 Acronyms and Abbreviations ALARP As low as reasonably practicable dus à la pollution par les BAT best available technology hydrocarbures; see IOPC Bbl barrels (of oil) FOC flag of convenience Bcf billion cubic feet per day FSO floating storage and offloading Bcm billion cubic meters system Bn. billion FPSO floating production, storage and C Celsius offloading vessel c. approximately FPS floating production system CAFÉ corporate average fuel economy FSU floating storage unit CEMP Center for Environmental GDP gross domestic product Management & Planning GECOL General Electric Company of Libya CFCs chlorofluorocarbons GEF Global Environment Facility (UNEP, CLC Civil Liability Convention, 1992 and UNDP, World Bank) the Compensation Fund IOPC GHG greenhouse gas, mainly carbon CO2 carbon dioxide, the main anthropic dioxide from burning hydrocarbons, greenhouse gas causing climate change EGA Environment General Authority, GMR Great Man-Made River Water Supply Tripoli Project EIA environmental impact assessment, GPCI Geographic Planning Collaborative now often EA GSI Global Subsidies Initiative EITI Extractive Industries Transparency HIA health impact assessment, an integral Initiative part of ESA EMP environmental management plan, an HSBC Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank integral part of ESA that Corporation operationalizes its recommendations HSE health, safety and environment, a and specifies how it will be common corporate grouping implemented H2S hydrogen sulfide EMS environmental management system, HVDC high voltage direct current designed to manage a corporation’s IAIA International Association for Impact processes and environmental results; Assessment not part of the ESA. IIED International Institute for EPSA exploration and production sharing Environment and Development (see agreements (see PSA, PSC) MMSD) ESA environmental and social assessment, IISD International Institute for Sustainable the current preferred term Development ESIA environmental and social impact IMO International Maritime Organization assessment, a more complete term IUCN International Union for the than EIA. Conservation of Nature ESHIA environmental, social and health IOPC International Oil Pollution impact assessment, the most Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) complete term (see also ESA, EIA, LED light emitting diode ESIA, HIA, SIA) LDC Less Developed Country FIPOL Les fonds internationaux LYD Libyan Dinar d'indemnisation pour les dommages LNG liquefied natural gas 4 LPG liquefied petroleum gas POPs Persistent Organic Pollutants MAB Man and Biosphere Programme, ppm parts per million UNESCO PPP purchasing power parity Maghreb Member states of the Arab PSA production sharing agreement Maghreb Union: Morocco, Algeria, PSC production sharing contract Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania SBM synthetic-based muds Mcm million cubic meters SEA strategic environmental assessment MARPOL International Convention for the of a program, region or sector, not of Prevention of Pollution from Ships a project MENA Middle East & North Africa SIA social impact assessment, an integral MODU modal offshore drilling unit part of ESA Mte million tone equivalent SoE State of the Environment (report) MW megawatt Tcf trillion cubic feet NGL natural gas liquids TREC Trans-Mediterranean Renewable NOC National Oil Company Energy Cooperation OBM oil-based muds TWh terawatt hours OECD Organization for Economic TWj terawatt joules Cooperation and Development UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade ORF oil reserve fund and Development OSPAR The Convention for the Protection of UNEP United Nations Environment the Marine Environment of the Programme North-East Atlantic www.ospar.org UNESCO United Nations Educational, and www.offshore- Scientific and Cultural Organization environment.com/ospar UNFCCC United Nations Framework OSRL Oil Spill Response Ltd, Southampton, Convention on Climate Change UK UNSD United Nations Statistics Division PAH polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons US AID Agency for International PFW Produced and Formation Water, Development usually hypersaline water US EPA Environmental Protection Agency accompanying produced oil, always VOC volatile organic compounds tainted with oil and other WBM water-based muds contaminants. WHO United Nations World Health POLMAR Pollution Marine: www.polmar.com. Organization French government’s oil-spill WWF World Wildlife Fund response procedures. 5 Libya from space 6 Executive Summary This book outlines how Libya could become sustainable if it so chooses. Libya is a unique nation in many ways: especially its location that contains the highest solar insolation on the planet. The paramount needs are to make water supply sustainable and to make a transition to renewable energy as fast as possible. Both water and oil stocks are depleting and will become scarce unless conserved. The two urgent needs of sustainable water and energy are related. Sustainable water means solar-powered desalination and solar-fuelled water pumps. Sales receipts from Libya’s declining oil and gas resources could be allocated to accelerate the transition to solar electricity, which should fast become the most profitable and sustainable export to Europe. Conservation of water is essential for water supply and food production. Conservation of hydrocarbons is essential to boost oil and gas exports to finance solar electricity. As climate change intensifies, Libya is well placed to become carbon neutral and to help Europe reduce its greenhouse emissions by importing Libya’s solar electricity. This book offers signposts towards achieving Libyan environmental sustainability, but also is a foreigner’s guide to Libya’s fascinating but little-known environment. It is one of the first attempts to outline how to achieve environmental sustainability for a single nation. The surprising finding of this work is that Libya is poised to become a world leader in sustainability should it so choose. Libya’s 20 Dhiram banknote shows a map of the Great Man- Made River 7 Foreword Libya faces a gigantic opportunity: We can become one of the first nations in the world to become environmentally sustainable if we so choose. We can grasp this opportunity now by acting to relieve our two biggest constraints to prosperity, namely the risks of depletion of fresh water and oil. This action promises to lead our citizens to enjoy a better standard of living and improved health in perpetuity. I am enthusiastic because sustainability would make us all winners and is feasible for us to achieve as a society. The opposite is too grim to imagine: scarcity of fresh water and of energy stifling our nation. We are fortunate that this book offers us a bold and optimistic vision of how Libya can become environmentally sustainable. In essence, its basic message is common sense. First, let us use solar power to make fresh water sustainable. And second, let us use oil receipts to make a transition to generating solar electricity from our valuable deserts. These two activities within Libya could serve as a model to the world. Further, by exporting solar power to other countries, Libya could have a significant global impact on mitigating the risks of climate change. The book also guides us to progress towards sustainability in transportation, food supply and conservation of the Mediterranean Sea on which we depend. One of the book’s strengths is its distillation of international scientific literature showing how to progress towards sustainability. Transitions to sustainable water and sustainable energy are two of the top current worldwide challenges, from which Libya is luckily in a position to profit. However, taking advantage of such an opportunity will not be a matter of luck, but rather of making the right choices from among a number of options. I am not claiming that these transitions will be easy—but they are feasible and indeed essential if we are to prosper in the future. My hope is that this book will spark a national debate, leading us to the goal of sustainability as smoothly and promptly as possible. It’s up to us. Dr Abdul-Hakim Elwaer The Islamic Development Bank Group Director, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa Former Director, Environmental General Authority, Tripoli 8 Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 4 Executive Summary ........................................................ ..7 Foreword ..............................................................................................................................................................