Environmental Politics In Egypt

Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in Egypt from the late 1990s to 2011, this book shows how experts and activists used distinctive approaches to influence state and firm decision-making in three important environmental policy domains. These include; industrial pollution from large-scale industry, the conservation of threatened habitat, and water management of the irrigation system. These cases show how environmental networks sought to construct legal, discursive, and infrastructural forms of authority within the context of a fragmented state apparatus and a highly centralized political regime. ‘Managerial networks’, composed of environmental scientists, technocrats, and consultants, sought to create new legal regimes for environmental protection and to frame environmental concerns so that they would appeal to central decision-makers. Activist networks, in contrast, emerged where environmental pollution or exclusion from natural resources threatened local livelihoods and public health. These networks publicized their concerns and mobilized broader participation through the creative use of public space, media coverage, and strategic use of existing state-sanctioned organizations. With the increased popular mobilization of the 2000s, and the mass protests of the 2011 revolution, environmental politics has become highly topical. Expert and activist networks alike have sought to broaden their appeal and diversify their approaches. The result may well be a more contested, participatory, and dynamic phase in Egyptian environmentalism.

"Gomaa has an international reputation and has won widespread respect both inside and outside Egypt for her research and advocacy on the environment. There is no one better placed than she to provide us with an insider's account combined with a scholar's critique of the entire process."--Denis Sullivan, Northeastern University "This book is . . . an example of how to study a specific problem (the environment in Egypt and how it relates to its politics and economics), how to define the parameters to achieve the goal of the study, and how to reach the goal. . . . Readers will trace the intellectual input of the author in every line of the book."--From the foreword by Mostafa Kamal Tolba In the first examination of environmental policy and policy making in Egypt, Salwa Sharawi Gomaa analyzes and explains the nature, development, and possible implications of environmental concern as a political issue. She explores the interactions between the Egyptian government, environmental non-government organizations (NGOs), the Green Party, and foreign donors and explains who makes environmental policy, how that policy is arrived at, and what its impact is. Of particular interest is the substantial amount of fieldwork and interviews on which Gomaa's study is based. Her conversations with government officials, NGO environmentalists, and officials from the international donor community provide insight and a concrete application of complex theoretical principles. Through personal contacts at every level of the process, she is able to show how the environment was put on the policy-making agenda, who saw it through the decision-making process, how the international donor community got involved, and how local organizations came to play a role. Unlike the grassroots environmentalism of the West, Egypt's environmental initiative originated with the state, following some prodding from the international community. Gomaa's description and analysis of how this process has advanced in a country rife with political and economic challenges holds lessons for environmental advocates throughout the Third World. Her study will also be of special interest for its examination of the role of NGOs in development and in policy making and the connection between foreign aid and environmental policy. Salwa Sharawi Gomaa is associate research professor in the Social Research Center at the American University in Cairo, associate professor of public and environmental politics at Cairo University, and author of Egyptian Diplomacy in the Seventies (1988).

Pure environmentalism and pure resource exploitation can be integrated together to form an encompassing sustainability solution. This is the main message of this book based on an innovative "e;structure-concentration-incentives"e; methodology applied to Egypt. This methodology provides a basis for achieving environmental sustainability based on endogenous source-driven forces of change in contrast to the traditional effects-dominant oriented approach. Though the book's methodology could be used as a framework of analysis in environmental sustainability research for any developing country, Egypt provides a rich case study because of its historical, socio-economic, and political constructs. Sustainable development is generally seen as a tradeoff between resource efficiency and social equity such that total resource essentials in society can become sustainable in the long run in a manner that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Environmental sustainability cannot be implemented without the direct inclusion of structure (form), concentration (effect), and incentives (drivers) as critical policy choices because: (1) they constitute a necessary condition in any country's path towards sustainable development, (2) they must be implemented simultaneously as a target and constraint, and (3) they require social and political sacrifice complemented by endogenous-based systems in contrast to authoritarian solutions. Egypt, Energy and the Environment presents research on Egypt's energy and environmental resources from multidisciplinary perspectives. It offers sustainability solutions to many of the country's problems relating to energy, pollution, water, gender, wildlife, politics, economics, management, ecology, and information technology. The book's method of analysis can be applied to other developing countries as well.

This book examines the evolution and development of environmental politics in Egypt, and how networks operate inside an authoritarian system. Tracing attempts by environmental networks to control industrial pollution, create and preserve protected areas, and restructure the management of Egypt’s scarce water supplies, the author contributes to a more refined understanding of public policy making and social protest under authoritarian rule in Egypt and the Arab world.

This book investigates how ecology and politics meet in the Middle East and how those interactions connect to the global political economy. Through region-wide analyses and case studies from the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf of Aden, the Levant and North Africa, the volume highlights the intimate connections of environmental activism, energy infrastructure and illicit commodity trading with the political economies of Central Asia, the Horn of Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The book's nine chapters analyze how the exploitation and representation of the environment have shaped the history of the region--and determined its place in global politics. It argues that how the ecological is understood, instrumentalized and intervened upon is the product of political struggle: deconstructing ideas and practices of environmental change means unravelling claims of authority and legitimacy. This is particularly important in a region frequently seen through the prism of environmental determinism, where ruling elites have imposed authoritarian control as the corollary of 'environmental crisis'. This unique and urgent collection will question much of what we think we know about this pressing issue.

Environmental pollution is a concern of many people in Egypt and the world in general. People and Pollution is a study of how Egyptians in particular understand environmental problems and what their roles are in the solutions. This original study is based on extensive field research with both academic and policy relevance. The uniqueness of the book comes from its focus: instead of the usual approach of analyzing policy and measurements, this text seeks to understand how the people themselves, often the objects of policy, understand their environment and their own actions.An interesting finding from the research lies in the focus of Egyptian concerns. Rather than the global perspective (the depletion of the ozone layer, protection of coral reefs and rainforests, and so on) that is common in the West, Egyptians are mainly concerned with matters of immediate environmental degradation, such as garbage, sewage, dirty streets, and noise pollution. In addition, the researchers have found that people are often able to effect changes themselves through cooperation with neighbors, thus bypassing the 'official' channels of redress such as NGOs and local government officials. The difference in focus of concern and courses of action may be extrapolated to many Third World or developing nations, and leads to provocative questions regarding policymaking for public participation in future environmental campaigns.Descriptive views from the authors, eloquent and moving testimony from members of the community, and clear statistical analysis of the findings make this book a highly readable text. People and Pollution is a pioneering and important work that should be consulted by environmentally concerned readers, students, and policymakers alike.