Skip to main content

Egypt endeavors to turn Suez Canal green

The Suez Canal Authority announced a plan to shift the Suez Canal into an eco-friendly canal that relies on renewable energy to preserve the environment and encourage environmentally friendly ships.

Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, speaks during a press conference after the release of the Panama-flagged MV Ever Given container ship, in the canal's central city of Ismailia, Egypt, July 5, 2021.
Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, speaks during a press conference after the release of the Panama-flagged MV Ever Given container ship, in the canal's central city of Ismailia, Egypt, July 5, 2021. — Mahmoud Khaled/AFP via Getty Images

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is currently working to reduce the rising pollution rates and confront climate change. 

In this context, the authority recently announced its plan to declare the canal as a “green canal” next year. In a TV interview Dec. 14, SCA head Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie said, “The SCA launched an initiative of 16 renewable energy monitoring posts as part of its digital transition plan, and the Suez Canal will be declared as a green canal in 2023.”

During a Dec. 13 meeting, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed with Rabie the SCA’s efforts to assume its international environmental responsibility, in addition to its decision to give incentives to transiting ships’ operators that follow environmentally friendly standards that contribute to reducing carbon emissions. 

This decision aims to encourage ships to use liquefied natural gas and various types of low carbon fuel, so that the Suez Canal shifts into a green canal that encourages and supports the preservation of the environment, a statement by the Egyptian presidency said following the meeting.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish