Lebanon’s Youth Take Climate Action

This summer, Lebanon is grappling with one of its harshest wildfire seasons in years, fueled by extreme heat and prolonged drought. Fires have erupted from Akkar’s hills to Mount Lebanon, devastating green spaces, displacing wildlife, and threatening communities. On August 9, 2025, Zahle recorded 45.2 °C, the hottest August day in the country’s history, with temperatures up to 10 °C above average. The record-breaking heat has strained infrastructure, even triggering a nationwide blackout when the Zouk power station failed. What’s unfolding is not an anomaly but a stark sign of climate change: longer, hotter summers that magnify the wildfire threat.

Wildfires, once seasonal, are now increasingly frequent and human-made, sparked by careless burning, deforestation, and abandoned glass in tinder-dry landscapes. Civil defense units and volunteers remain stretched thin, often without the tools to respond. Lebanon is warming faster than the global average, facing declining precipitation, shrinking snow cover, water shortages, and rising sea levels. These changes threaten agriculture, infrastructure, and coastal livelihoods, while the World Bank warns GDP could shrink by 14% in the next 15 years. From cedar forests to olive groves, Lebanon’s natural heritage is vanishing, eroding the country’s resilience and exposing communities to greater environmental and economic risks.

A Glimpse of a Greener Lebanon

In the face of inaction at the policy and community levels, youth across Lebanon are taking matters into their own hands.

The Greener Lebanon project, implemented by Anera in partnership with UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited, empowers youth in Lebanon to drive environmental action through reforestation, waste collection, and environmental education sessions and campaigns across towns and cities. Through the National Volunteering Platform Nahno Volunteers, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Government of the Netherlands, Anera engages thousands of young people in climate-focused volunteering opportunities.

These youth are taking action by conducting educational sessions using the Climate Action Kit, which introduces key concepts of climate change, its causes and impacts, and simple practices to protect the environment. They are also leading interactive activities that build critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills to find creative solutions to today’s climate challenges.

While small in scale compared to the crisis at hand, these initiatives reflect a growing awareness and an urgent desire to act. Youth participants are also benefiting from the Climate Action Kit, which equips them with the knowledge and tools needed to take meaningful action in their communities.

By linking climate action to skills training, peer engagement, and civic participation, Greener Lebanon equips young people with the knowledge and tools to lead environmental initiatives in their communities.

The country needs long-term investment in forest management, early warning systems, local preparedness, and public education. But equally important, Lebanon must listen to its youth, who are already proving they have the will to protect what’s left.

As the smoke clears from this season’s fires, the question is no longer whether Lebanon will be affected by climate change, but whether it can mobilize fast enough to adapt.

If the answer lies anywhere, it may be in the hands of those planting the next tree.

Greener Lebanon is a project supported by UNICEF aiming to educate and empower youth and enhance their participation in climate action through local initiatives with sustainable impact across all governorates in Lebanon.

Join them. Sign up to volunteer at nahno-volunteers.com and take part in building a greener Lebanon.