Lebanon’s Minister of Environment, Nazem Khoury, has one of the tougher jobs in government — to raise the profile of a nascent ministry in an already crowded field. Khoury spoke with Executive about his priorities for improving the environment, and how he feels the Ministry of Environment (MoE) has performed over the last year. E The Ministry of Environment has few resources at its disposal. How are you achieving the goals you’ve set out for the ministry? We’re understaffed and underfinanced. So on both levels we’re very squeezed. Despite this, the MoE has been able to bring in financing from international donors — the Italians, the European Union (EU), and various foreign governments who have been funding projects in Lebanon. This is how we’ve survived. Our annual budget is just $8 million, and this includes all of the salaries for our staff. This ministry should have 108 staff members. We
