WSF Online Meeting – Gender-sensitive Policy Responses to Environmental Harm in Conflict: Lessons from Lebanon, 17 February 2026
On 17 February, the Women for a Sustainable Future (WSF) network convened online to examine the environmental toll of the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, its gendered impacts, and the government’s emerging policy responses - identifying lessons relevant to other WSF member conflict-affected regions. Sustained political engagement on the conflict and post-conflict situation in Lebanon remains essential, given its broader implications for regional stability.
The meeting was convened as Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Amid an economic collapse since 2019 and escalating climate risks, the over two-year-long conflict has caused an estimated $220 million in environmental damage in Lebanon, according to the World Bank. The damage includes long-term consequences for agricultural productivity, natural ecosystems, energy infrastructure, and livelihoods in the south and Bekaa.
Leading the session was Lebanese parliamentarian, Dr Halimeh Kaakour, and Lea Kai, Manager and Adviser of UNDP’s climate change projects at Lebanon’s Ministry of Environment . The meeting brought together parliamentarians, diplomats, environmental experts, gender specialists, and government advisers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Iraq, Ireland, Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya.
The session provided WSF parliamentarians and policy actors with practical insight into climate-justice-informed reconstruction and environmentally sustainable recovery in conflict settings. Through Lebanon’s experience, participants gained technical understanding of how green reconstruction models, community-based agricultural recovery, women’s economic participation, and environmental commitments under the Paris Agreement can be translated into policy and programming. The exchange strengthened participants’ capacity to apply climate justice principles in national decision-making and to shape inclusive, environmentally responsible reconstruction and governance responses across conflict-affected contexts represented within the WSF network.