As the Lebanese government continues to discuss austerity measures, the Ministry of Environment saw its funding cut following the passing of the 2019 budget on July 20, causing air monitoring stations throughout the country to be shut down even as air pollution continues to reach dangerous levels.

The national air monitoring network, which measures pollution levels in Lebanon and allows the Ministry of Environment to regulate pollutants in the air, was established over two phases starting in 2013 with the opening of five stations after Lebanon received a $1.64 million grant from Greece, with around $400,000 of that going toward the air monitoring stations. 

The second phase was launched with an EU grant of around $8.9 million and saw an additional 21 stations built in 2017 with around $1.68 million of the funding. All of these stations were connected to a central network at the Ministry of Environment and were the same type of stations used in the United States and the EU and met international standards.

Following the July 9 announcement that the monitoring stations were to be closed due to budget cuts, the delegation of the European Union to Lebanon told Al-Monitor, “The EU delegation was recently informed that the Ministry of Environment is not in a position to continue financing for the maintenance of the stations monitoring air pollution in the country. This network was partly funded by the EU as one of the main donors to environmental programs in Lebanon.”