Managing the Libyan environment has been and always will be a serious challenge impeding the development of the country. This timely and comprehensive review of how Libya has handled its options in managing renewable and non-renewable energy and water resources is accessible and authoritative. The purpose of the analysis is to inform those who will make environmental policy and allocate and manage natural resources how to operate in a transitional world. The transition is to an approach that will increasingly privilege stewardship – as well as the use and consumption of natural resources – in changing climatic conditions. The main chapter focuses on Libya's scarcity of affordable water resources.
Robert Goodland was well qualified to evaluate the underlying fundamentals of Libya's water, energy, the Mediterranean and other natural resources. He had four decades as a prominent ecologist analysing the impacts of economic and social developments on the environment. He was a leading and responsible member of the science community that launched the global environmental movement in the 1970s and referred to by his colleagues as the “conscience” of the World Bank.
His recent death in January 2014 reduces the number of these important pioneers.
The study of Libya was one of the last projects that he completed and is based on the first booklet that he published in 2008 entitled “Green Libya: The Transition to Environmental Sustainability”.
On water he concluded that the important first step in developing a realistic groundwater policy would be for governments to commission transparent, credible, unbiased assessments of the long-term rate of recharge for every ground basin or aquifer. Such metrics would establish the limit of sustainable use. The second step would be for all concerned parties – scientists, farmers, government agencies and community groups – to devise a plan for balancing pumping with recharge. Next, transparent water budgets are needed for all significant users. If current pumping exceeds the sustainable limit, then pumping reductions would be the only solution to solve the issue. Artificial recharge does not seem possible in Libya.
Diversification of water supplies is essential for sustainability in Libya. Hence all four sources, surface water, groundwater, recycled water and desalinated water need to be addressed simultaneously.
Other chapters address food security and the need to balance food imports and local production. His review of agriculture is complemented by an important evaluation of how to promote the stewardship of natural ecosystems. There are chapters on climate change and energy and an insightful assessment of conservation and sustainability in the transport sector both within Libya and concerning its international links with recommendations to phase out the current wasteful fuel subsidies. On the climate change section, the author regards Libya as being at risk because of severe water scarcity and high temperatures and because of the low elevation with respect to the sea level. He strongly advised the state-owned General Electricity Company (GECOL) that Libya's power demand is growing fast and projected to reach 10 GW by 2020. Libya is currently facing blackouts and the country would need to build eight new combined-cycle and steam-cycle power plants to double the present mainly oil-fuelled 5.2 GW capacity. The potential of tourism is reviewed in the context of the conservation of the Mediterranean and its coastal amenities and the ecosystem tourist assets. The recommendations include conserving the depleting fish stocks, managing the wastewater and the sewage and making sure that they are collected efficiently and effectively, focusing on the Gulf of Sirte and coastal Cyrenaica as the main zones that deserve special conservation. In almost every chapter, the author advocates strong measures, regulations and mandates that would make Libya sustainable by stating the facts in a country where the word ‘environment’ is not highly appreciated. There are also two useful appendices on Libya's current governance arrangements in relation to the environment. All the chapters are rich in evidence and useful citations.
The book shows how Libya ‘could become sustainable if it so chooses’. The author suggests that Libya is in a unique position because of its location being close to Europe and enjoying a top place in any list of potentially solar energy rich economies. It is suggested that the paramount need is to make a transition to renewable energy as fast as possible. Both water and oil stocks are depleting and will become scarce unless conserved. It is shown that sustainable water and energy are related. Sustainable outcomes require sustainable solar-powered desalination and solar-fuelled water pumps. It is recommended that revenues from Libya's declining oil and gas resources could be allocated to accelerate the transition to solar power production which could become the most profitable and sustainable export to Europe. Conservation of water is essential for both water supply and food production. In addition conservation of hydrocarbons is vital to boost oil and gas exports to finance the generation of solar power. As climate change intensifies Libya is well placed to become carbon neutral and at the same time help Europe reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by importing Libya's solar energy.
This well researched book, utilising extensive references, remains the only reliable source for the General Environment Authority (GEA), government ministries, policy makers, community groups and future NGO's to assimilate the findings and recommendations presented to speed up the sustainable management of the Libyan environment and to conserve Libya's three main natural resources: water, oil and the coastal belt, particularly in this precarious transitional phase that Libya is going through.
