Topic: "Can Green Business Protect Nature?"

On Thursday, January 27th, ibsar hosted the fourth and last of a series “Ta3 Nehke” debates. Given in West Hall from 4 to 6 pm the debate was called “Can Green Business Protect Nature,” and featured a assorted panel of lectures, each of whom represented a either a pro-green business or anti-green business perspective. The event’s mediator was Chemistry professor and ibsar director Dr. Najat Saliba. The panel consisted of Mr. Nizar Hani, Dr. Jad Chaaban, Dr. Hassan Machlab, and Ms. Maya Abboud.

Dr. Saliba began by introducing the concept of “green business” and its subsequent effect on the environment. Giving an example of a property ibsar was entrusted to “make green,” Dr. Saliba spoke of the sustainability of pro-environment land, and the profitability that could develop. Nevertheless, the main notion of the debate emphasized business’s role in environmental protection. “Is green business a good idea?” asked Dr. Saliba, “Or is it better to form small communities to optimize green?” Mr. Nizar Hani, environmentalist and scientific coordinator of the Shouf Cedar Reserve, was the first of the panelists to speak. Hani detailed some of the issues that the Shouf reserve went though as a result of business investments from communities, regarding specific products or ecotourism activities. 

“Some worked and some didn’t” he remarked, “but the whole point was to incorporate different communities.” He went on to state that green business did indeed help out a lot in the managerial aspect of Chouf ecotourism, as it helped them to work on the quality of the area and long term business. “Green business can help nature protection,” concluded Hani.

Next up was Ms. Maya Abboud, UNDP Project Director and expert in Ecosystem Management. Abboud agreed wholeheartedly with Hani, in that green businesses do positively impact conservation efforts.  However Abboud emphasized that these businesses have to be very well planned in order to respect the natural state of their products, and require controlled systems. She described an example of a product she was working on about medicinal and aromatic plants, stating that over 95% of them were retrieved from the wild. “Currently there are no feelings of ownership for these sources,” she remarked, stating that there were no access restrictions to collect plants. A high level of competition was also prevalent, with the first to collect being the first to benefit. The solution, said Abboud, was “promoting sustainable use while using economic incentives to conserve in the wild. Promoting sustainable harvesting and linking it with higher values in the market increases the product’s overall retail value.” The higher the price of a product, the more likely people are to abide by restriction protocol. Thus, both people and environment benefit, for this adds value to land that would normally not be appreciated.

Following Ms. Abboud was Dr. Hassan Machlab, the Lebanon country manager of ICARDA, (international center for agricultural research in dry areas).  ICARDA, responsible for rural development in dry land, also helps to alleviate poverty and spread climate change awareness. Dr. Machlab opened with a decisive opinion on green business, saying “Green businesses extend the presence of resources.”  He especially stressed the importance of the “human factor,” remarking that these resources had no importance without people reacting with them. “How can we face the challenge of food security, climate change, and increasing population?” asked Dr. Machlab. Green business, he argued, can be a good proponent of these issues, if implemented wisely. “Governments can have incentives and subsidies for green businesses, however environmental and agricultural means work in opposite ways. The challenge is to create a compromise between economy and environment.”

Last to speak was Dr. Jad Chaaban, Assistant Professor of Microeconomics of agribusiness at AUB-FAFS. Dr. Chaaban was very much against the fact that green business can protect nature, unlike the rest of the panelists. “The GDP of Lebanon has been increasing,” said Dr. Chaaban, “we are almost 11,000 dollars per person per year. The Lebanese economy has been growing richer and green business has been booming.” However, regardless of all the economical growth in Lebanon, said Dr. Chaaban “The natural space in Lebanon has been declining. “ He went on to state that the forest area in Lebanon is now only 13% of the total land, down from 25% about 15 years ago. The solution was to assign a value to nature, in order to protect it; “A natural product, when it has a value, is worth more to the population who are more likely to protect it,” stated Dr. Chaaban. He also agreed with Ms. Abboud on the subject of invalid ownership, saying it was an ethical problem as well as being linked to politics and cultural issues. “We need to move from a culture of consumers to a culture of protection,” remarked Dr. Chaaban.

The debate raised several questions from audience members, who questioned the actual definition of green business, among other things. Audience member and environmental and industrial engineer, Ziad Abi Chaaker, brought up this topic, questioning “How green is green business?” “The hardest thing to do is to slap the label of green on business. Can green business protect nature? Definitely. But what is green business?” Hani responded by saying that the purpose of green business was to be more environmentally friendly, while minimizing any negative impact. AUB professor Dr. Salma Talhouk also commented on this point, saying “The issue of nature not being a business is very important. We must not look at nature conservation with a profitable attitude.” She went on to further classify society as divided between those who seek to gain from nature, and those who conserve without anything promised in return.

Another important question of the evening was brought up by Dr. Chaaban, who questioned “Can you have a program where you convince people to conserve?” He mentioned the common agricultural policy in Europe, which has created rural jobs and ecotourism, as well as helping to maintain rural life. “There is a common social decision to put money in rural areas. If we want to keep the countryside we have to subsidize it,” said Dr. Chaaban.  Dr. Talhouk then rebuffed his economic perspective, with her own behavioral perspective, commenting “This is a fallacy. Rural communities are as destructive as ours. Human beings always behave the same when technology is introduced to them.”

The audience went on to debate these questions, with the audience seemingly divided about green businesses. The panel then gave their closing remarks, with Mr. Hani saying “We have to start from somewhere and take individual initiatives.” Ms. Abboud complemented this view point, stressing the issue of ownership  in nature. Dr. Machlab emphasized national action and working on lobbying, remarking “We must focus on the individuals, as well as beneficial NGOs.” Lastly, Dr. Chaaban once again urged the audiences to take individual action when protecting nature, saying “It’s not enough to buy protects we think help conserves nature. We must be active.”

By Lojine Kamel