Engaging in the carbon markets: The Libya case

This paper addresses the potential for engagement in international carbon markets by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (referred to throughout this paper as Libya). Specifically, the paper evaluates the extent to which Libya is likely to participate in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM is an example of integrated environmental and energy policy in that it seeks to achieve sustainability outcomes in developing countries while providing greenhouse gas emission reductions through emissions abatement or avoidance projects. This is a timely and important question, as Libya has recently been emerging from an extended period of isolation from the international community and seeking to address the very real environmental and economic concerns which affect its population (Bahgat 2010; St. John 2008; Zoubir 2009). The dramatic political upheavals of early 2011 imply that Libya will be faced with substantial challenges in terms of economic reconstruction and reorganisation, while at the same time requiring positive engagements with global markets and the international community at some future date, in order to rebuild its social systems and infrastructure. Libya's history and socio-cultural conditions make it a unique and fertile subject for study (Scheffler 2003). The goal of the research presented here was to investigate whether Libya, a country with a "strong-state" tradition and ambitious socio-economic development plans, can achieve a successful balance between economy, society and ecology. This question has been discussed in the context of other states with similar characteristics (Adaman and Arsel 2008). More particularly, our purpose was to evaluate whether Libya is likely to engage successfully with the international carbon market through the CDM, in order to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability outcomes. This paper offers a multidisciplinary perspective, considering historical factors and trends as well as the characteristics of Libyan society that influence strategic policy development and implementation. It has been argued that the CDM does not independently allow countries to achieve their sustainable development objectives (Boyd et.al. 2009; Sutter and Parreño 2007). The CDM can, however, make positive contributions to development objectives (Olsen 2007). This paper adopts a political ecology approach to evaluate the likelihood of Libya being able to engage in the CDM for the purposes of reducing emissions and promoting sustainable development. Comprehensive understanding of these complex issues requires a political ecology method (Arvanitakis and Boydell 2010; Bumpus and Liverman 2008)