Opportunities identified for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in industrial sectors in Egypt

Egypt's Low-Carbon Economy Strategy aims to redirect the country's economy towards investments in clean technology.

In this context, the industrial sector is an increasingly important sector with respect to climate change mitigation. Based on current trends, it is estimated that by 2030, GHG emissions in important national industries such as cement, fertiliser, and iron and steel will increase substantially unless action is taken. However, research undertaken through the Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) project in Egypt shows that these same sectors have the most potential for producing significant reductions in GHG emissions.

In Egypt, the project is implemented by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, in collaboration with several other key ministries. As a result of a nationally-driven process, the LECB project in Egypt is develop Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) in the energy and transport sectors; elaborate a Low Emission Development Strategy; and to work with industry on mitigation action plans. This requires collaboration among policy makers and industry leaders in order to understand the potential of Egypt's industries for enhancing profitability while improving energy efficiency.

As part of the decision-making process, the LECB project supported an analysis in 2012 of three of Egypt's most important industrial sectors: cement, fertiliser, and iron and steel. This study not only provided information on areas in which NAMAs might be developed, but also established criteria for evaluating the viability of potential NAMAs and focusing joint efforts in order to achieve the most significant economic impacts. The analysis concluded that the cement sector should be given the highest priority for implementing NAMAs in Egypt, followed by fertiliser and iron/steel. The work also opened up important dialogue on the business case for energy efficiency, since the industries have seen increases in energy prices since the beginning of 2012."