At COP31, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called environmental restoration a reconstruction priority, citing more than $512 million in environmental losses from Israeli attacks in 2023 and 2024, Anadolu Agency reported.
Anadolu said Salam made the remarks Thursday at the climate summit. He urged that climate resilience be included in reconstruction planning. Salam said Israeli attacks caused further environmental losses in 2026 and characterized the attacks as violations of international humanitarian law.
Salam cast reconstruction as extending beyond homes and roads, naming farmland, ecosystems and livelihoods as recovery priorities. He linked environmental harm to years of economic crisis and successive wars, which he said had damaged infrastructure, agricultural land, forests and ecosystems.
A 2025 assessment by the World Bank and the National Council for Scientific Research – Lebanon (CNRS-L) estimated $512 million in damage and $790 million in losses for the environment and debris-management sector. It put recovery and reconstruction needs at $444 million. The assessment covers Oct. 8, 2023, through Dec. 20, 2024.
The assessment classifies its $512 million figure as damage, while Salam described a $512 million amount as losses. The matching values refer to different categories, so the assessment does not confirm Salam’s reported amount as losses. The assessment estimates losses separately at $790 million and recovery and reconstruction needs at $444 million. Its review period ends in December 2024, before the further losses Salam cited for 2026.
The World Bank assessment also describes environmental degradation that predated the conflict. It says solid-waste management inefficiencies and financial instability were worsened by the 2019 economic crisis. Anadolu reported that environmental effects could affect ecosystems and local livelihoods for years. COP31 is scheduled to run through Nov. 20.
