(MENAFN- The Peninsula) In the last decade, Algeria has raised several bets that it strives to win as soon as possible, and perhaps the most important of which is combating climate change, the global phenomenon for which Algeria has drawn up a special strategy by creating a national committee known as the“National Climate Committee” in 2015, tasked with following up strategies to combat climate change, and its effects on development.
The committee is chaired by the Minister of Environment, and consists of representatives of 18 ministries, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and Local Authorities, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Industry and Mines, and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, in addition to a representative of the National Economic and Social Council (CENSE).
The Algerian government also developed the“National Climate Plan” in 2017, in order to integrate activities related to climate change, develop analytical studies on the risks of climate fragility, and analyze the risks of the water resources sector.
In March 2019, the Algerian government approved a“green economic revival plan” by financing sorting operations at the source, recycling, supporting manufacturing industries, encouraging investment in the field of waste in order to ensure control of environmental impact and treatment technologies, and establishing a tax exemption for industrial companies that adhere to reducing the emissions of gases and chemical waste that are harmful to the environment.
The special national plan 2020-2030 aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22 percent as a conditional commitment and 7 percent as a voluntary commitment. The plan is considered Algeria's international front in the field of climate, as this plan was prepared by the National Climate Committee, which includes the various 18 sectors concerned, in addition to a team of experts and researchers. It includes 156 operations and activities, divided into three parts, including measures to adapt to climate changes and measures to reduce this natural phenomenon, as well as the governance of the national climate plan, all of which aim to ensure adaptation to and limit the effects of climate changes for the next decade, especially by reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as integrating the climatic dimension into the various public development policies. Measures to mitigate the effects of climate change include the sectors of industry, waste, energy, forests, transport, local communities, housing and tourism.
Algeria made a leap in the field of environment by completely removing leaded gasoline, as it decided to withdraw this type of gas stations starting from last July, due to its effects on the environment and the dispersive nature of lead emitted from car exhaust when burning regular gasoline which contains ultra-transportable lead, and by generalizing the use of unleaded gasoline, which allows activating the development of new technologies that are more respectful of the environment, while reducing pollutants in the air. Thus, unleaded gasoline has become available in all service stations at the same price.
Algeria also launched a new renewable energy development company, in February of 2021, with the aim of managing clean energy projects in the country, as part of its tendency to rely on clean energy and reduce emissions.
This new company is a joint investment between the Oil and Gas Company (Sonatrach) and the Algerian company for electricity and gas distribution (Sonelgaz), at a rate of 50 percent each, under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy Transition and Renewable Energies (METRE).
Last Monday, the National Climate Committee (NCC) met in Algeria to study the updating of Algeria's level of contribution to international efforts to curb global warming.
During this meeting in particular, the committee conducted a practical study to update the specific contribution at the national level, its status and future prospects, as well as an analysis and evaluation of the process of implementing the national climate plan, as this meeting coincided with the preparations for the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention (COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland.
In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Director of the Renewable Energy Development Center and Vice-Chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Dr. Noureddine Yassaa said that Algeria's strategy in the field of climate change is based mainly on the national climate plan and adaptation to climate changes by relying on afforestation and desalination of sea water, economic irrigation methods in the agricultural field.
As well as the challenge raised by the Algerian government, which is the production of 15,000 megawatts of renewable energies by 2035. In addition to the Algerian approach that focuses on training.
Yassaa believes that human training in the field of renewable energies is an essential element to move forward and achieve the conditional efficiency that Algeria aspires to achieve in the field of climate change.
For his part, Algerian Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane praised his country's initiative represented in the Green Dam Project, which extends over an area of 3.7 million hectares, and said that Algeria is currently working on reviving this ecological fortress to expand to an area of 4.7 million hectares in next few years in a qualitative contribution to protect the climate. It is a project adopted by Algeria in parallel with a wide afforestation campaign across the entire soil of the country, including the vast Algerian desert.
The most prominent example is what Algerian oil company Sonatrach has achieved by making it on the list of international companies relieved of follow-ups regarding carbon dioxide, which is harmful to the ozone layer. Algeria is the second country after Norway that resorted to recovering carbon dioxide emitted from oil fields and injecting it back into the ground again with the help of companies such as BP. Sonatrach has relied on this technology since 2001, which made it join the list of global companies that respect the environment and ozone to some extent.
Sonatrach is also working on the embodiment of five major projects across all its industrial areas in order to reduce gas and chemical emissions that pollute the ocean, which is embodied in the implementation of the company's comprehensive strategy for its activities and branches in order to protect the environment from all harmful substances that its industrial facilities offer. This includes the project to reconfigure the industrial vehicles of the complex by providing them with the means for converting and recycling polluting materials, in addition to the development of various technological systems aimed at reducing the flow of gases, oxidizing and carbon materials, oils and others, whether in the air, land or sea.
In addition to protect the environment, the In Salah Project in the Algerian desert related to a pilot experiment in controlling the path of oxidized carbon emissions associated with gas and other chemical flows and diverting them towards the ground with an estimated depth of about 2,000 meters, with the possibility of burying 1.2 million tons of polluting materials annually.
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