The Economic Research Forum (ERF) is undertaking a major research project, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), with the objective of developing a better understanding of the environmental challenges facing the MENA region.

The project will address a number of key research issues: (i) the costs of and benefits from dealing with environmental concerns in the MENA region, (ii) the effectiveness of selected two-part tariff schemes applied in some MENA countries to the environment, and (iii) the effectiveness of tradable permits (TP) in selected MENA countries. As such, the focus is on highlighting the merits of addressing environmental issues and illustrating by way of examples how public policies may be used effectively to respond to those concerns. These thematic issues will be applied to a variety of environmental concerns, including air pollution, water, waste, and similar environmental challenges. The findings should contribute to generating knowledge in the field of environmental economics and sharing this knowledge with policymakers and other stakeholders in order to urge them to integrate it into the planning and design of environmental policies in the MENA Region. The expected output of the research project is eight papers that ERF intend to publish as a volume.

Workshop presentations:

• Mitigating (Industrial) Solid Waste in Tunisia: Assessment of Regulatory Framework by Chokri Dridi and Naceur Kheraief
• Cost assessment of environmental degradation in the Middle East and North Africa region by Bjorn Larsen
• Regulating Traffic as a Means of Reducing Atmospheric Pollution: the Case of Greater Cairo, Egypt by Alban Thomas and Hala Abou-Ali
• Regulating the emissions from the industries by David Maradan and Karim Zein
• WTP for improving land and water conditions for Agriculture in Damietta, Egypt by Hala Abou-Ali
• Managing Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean Sea by Rashid Sumaila and Ling Huang
• IWRM in Jordan by Velma I Grover, Abdel Raouf Darwish, and Eliza Deutsch