Beirut Arab University

SDG 13 Climate Action

University and Community Alignment Report | Lebanon

Evidence review updated 19 October 2026

Understanding the goal

SDG 13 seeks urgent action on climate change and its effects. It addresses resilience, climate planning, education and institutional capacity. A university contributes by reducing its own emissions, understanding climate risks and helping students, employees and communities make informed decisions. Mitigation and adaptation are connected but require different kinds of evidence.

Evidence: United Nations SDG 13 targets

BAU’s contribution

BAU publishes a climate action framework and a net-zero target, alongside research and education relevant to energy, mobility, water resilience and ecological restoration. Students engage through learning and community activities, researchers develop evidence and operational employees influence daily performance. A credible account separates future commitments from completed projects and avoids treating all natural disasters as climate-related.

Students staff and community

Students learn about mitigation and resilience and contribute through supervised projects. Academic staff develop evidence and public education. Facilities, finance and administrative employees supply the information and practical work needed for campus improvement. Community and public partners help connect climate knowledge with local priorities.

Evidence approach: dated activities and research from 2021–2026 are prioritised. Standing services are identified as such; policies and agreements have no date cutoff. Original links accompany the evidence. The final page proposes improvements and does not claim they are already implemented.

Institutional commitments and responsibility

A published climate action framework

BAU’s Climate Action Policy sets out intended work on energy, transport, waste, water, adaptation and education. It also describes monitoring and collaboration. The document is a framework for action; its future-tense measures should not be treated as proof that every audit, installation or programme has been completed.

Evidence: BAU Climate Action Policy

The university’s net-zero commitment

BAU’s campus-footprint page commits the university to net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2035. The same page presents a 2021–2022 emissions assessment with several source categories. The public table does not clearly specify units and full calculation assumptions, so it is insufficient for an independently verified quantitative trend. The 2035 date is a target, not a claim of achieved carbon neutrality.

Evidence: BAU emissions assessment and net zero commitment

A useful emissions account needs consistent boundaries, source data, factors and explanations of change. Academic expertise can support the method, while facilities, procurement and finance teams provide operational information. Students can learn from the process through supervised analysis, but accountability for the institutional account remains with the university.

Oversight across university functions

The Sustainability Committee’s published responsibilities include emissions, energy, transport and other environmental matters. Its terms provide an organisational basis for coordination. Evidence of meetings, decisions and completed follow-up would demonstrate how that oversight operates in practice.

Evidence: BAU Sustainability Committee terms of reference

Climate action therefore requires both a direction and a working delivery process. Named responsibilities, a budget, milestones and reviewed results would help connect the university’s commitment with everyday decisions. Staff and students should be able to understand where their actions contribute and where institutional investment is required.

Mitigation through energy and mobility knowledge

A campus energy case with wider learning value

The 2023 BAU solar-microgrid paper compares energy-system options and describes campus implementation. It provides an applied example for examining reduced dependence on fossil-fuel generation and the operational choices involved in a university energy system.

Evidence: Original BAU campus energy comparison published 2023

The climate value of an energy project should be measured over a defined period using actual generation and fuel data. A design model can estimate results, but observed performance may differ. Facilities teams can explain operating conditions and maintenance, while researchers can help analyse the difference between projected and measured performance.

Understanding commuting as a source of impact

BAU’s 2024 travel-behaviour study provides survey evidence from Beirut and Debbieh. It can inform consideration of alternatives to individual car use. The study is a planning resource and does not establish that a campus transport-emissions target has already been met.

Evidence: Original BAU travel behaviour study published 2024

Mobility decisions are affected by affordability, safety, location and timetable. Climate measures should consider these practical barriers rather than assume that every person has the same choices. Students, academic staff and administrative employees may have different travel patterns and need different forms of support.

A university-wide learning opportunity

Mitigation can become part of teaching across disciplines. Engineering students can examine system performance, business students can compare investment choices and communication students can test whether messages are understandable. Operational staff contribute knowledge of what can be maintained and changed. These are opportunities to extend the documented research into continuing learning.

A stronger annual account would connect completed actions with the relevant emissions categories and explain what remains uncertain. This helps the university select priorities and allows the community to assess progress without confusing the number of activities with the scale of emissions avoided.

Climate communication and adaptation knowledge

Radio as a platform for climate discussion

On 13 February 2025, BAU’s Media Center marked World Radio Day with a climate-action theme. The event involved students, academic and administrative staff, journalists and former Environment Minister Nasser Yassin. It addressed the role of media in communicating climate issues and included interactive and broadcast elements.

Evidence: BAU World Radio Day climate action event February 2025

Professional learning about resilient cities

BAU’s February 2024 record describes participation in a Resilient Cities conference involving the Lebanese Green Building Council and Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation. This supports professional learning about urban resilience and building performance. The wider subject of natural disasters should not be equated entirely with climate hazards.

Evidence: BAU scientific conference on cities and natural disasters

Research for adaptation in water and landscapes

BAU and CNRS groundwater-recharge research identifies potential interventions in North Bekaa. It contributes planning knowledge relevant to water resilience, while proposed sites and methods still require field assessment and implementation decisions.

Evidence: BAU and CNRS North Bekaa groundwater recharge study

BAU and AFDC afforestation research, published in June 2026 from 2022–2024 trials, found that species choice and site-adapted treatment affect seedling establishment. Mulching performed well in the studied conditions. These are adaptation-relevant findings, not a quantified carbon-offset project.

Evidence: BAU and AFDC afforestation trials published June 2026

In April 2024, BAU ASCE students joined community partners in work at Horsh Beirut. The activity connects student participation with care for an urban green space. Its evidence is participation and site work rather than a measured citywide climate outcome.

Evidence: BAU ASCE community park restoration April 2024

These examples show complementary roles: communication can build understanding, professional exchange can strengthen judgment and research can inform practical options. Community knowledge should help shape the questions, particularly where measures affect water access, land use or the everyday use of public space.

Priorities for strengthening the contribution to SDG 13

BAU’s published target and climate-related activity provide a foundation for a more measurable programme. The following recommendations would strengthen delivery, transparency and local relevance.

Turn the target into a reviewed pathway

A delivery plan could state the emissions boundary, baseline, interim milestones, responsible offices and planned measures through 2035. Annual reporting should explain methods and separate actual reductions from changes caused by occupancy, accounting or external conditions. Any future treatment of residual emissions should be stated transparently.

Make adaptation specific to each campus

A practical risk review could examine heat, water stress, intense rainfall and other locally relevant hazards. Facilities staff, academic specialists and building users should contribute. Actions should consider continuity of teaching, research and services, as well as the needs of people who may have less ability to respond to disruption.

Community cooperation could focus on a small number of agreed questions, such as understandable climate information or a monitored restoration trial. A shared plan should state what the university and partners will do and how findings will be communicated. Participation in a conference alone should not be described as an operating early-warning or disaster-management service.

BAU’s contribution to Climate Action combines a declared institutional direction with research, education and engagement. Clear milestones and verified results would help demonstrate how the university is moving from commitments and individual activities toward a sustained contribution to a more resilient, lower-emission community.