(dpa) - Germany has granted Lebanon 4.5 million euros (6.7 million dollars) to help fund environmental projects damaged during the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, reports said Tuesday.
The grant, entitled the Project of the Environmental Fund in Lebanon, will fund projects proposed for the environmental reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country while keeping in mind the economic revival of its productive sectors.
The fund aims to help remedy the damage caused by the 2006 war and encourage the adoption of environmental measures from which institutions can benefit economically.
The World Bank calculates that the overall cost of environmental damage from the 33-day war in 2006 - 729 million dollars - exceeded the cost of environmental degradation for the entire year of 2000.
In addition to the financial costs of the war were the environmental costs which range from oil spills from the Israeli airstrike on the Jiyyeh power plant to the destruction of buildings which resulted in up to 3.5 million cubic metres of waste.
The cleanup of the oil spills has resulted in waste that Lebanese facilities are not equipped to dispose of in an environmentally acceptable manner.
The German fund will also help environmental investments that economically benefit private enterprises.