Lebanon intends on launching new projects aimed at combating climate change, Beirut's Environment Minister Nazem Khoury said lately. The country has been struggling to pass environmental reforms for years, and according to Khoury his ministry is in the process formulating and implementing various projects to help tackle carbon emissions levels and its future impact. Lebanon's environmental projects are funded with the help of the European Union and the Australian government. “Climate change has serious consequences for the Arab world and for Lebanon, in spite of its relatively low emissions compared to the rest of the world,” Khoury was quoted by the Daily Star as saying. “Harsh and severe climate phenomena occur in Lebanon – for example we can witness either a heavy rain season or a long period of drought, which means we must place high and urgent importance on the issue of managing water in Lebanon,” he added. Lebanon aims to present its planned reform during the next UN conference on climate change in Doha in November. According to the report, Khoury said that while Beirut understands that it must act to reduce emissions and to combat climate change in line with UN conventions, it must also "make sure at the same time that efforts are made to combat climate change that will not put Lebanese economic growth at risk." The Lebanese minister added: "What concerns us the most is that climate change has a serious impact on the Arab world and on Lebanon in spite of the small size of emissions compared to the world’s emissions." Khoury stress that one of the top projects promoted is the formation of a committee that will "improve cooperation between the concerned ministries." Beirut , he added, has also been exploring introducing new technologies to several sectors – including water, energy and transportation – to further promote the country's environmental goals. Although Lebanon has several environmental laws on the books, green activists say that enforcement has been very lax. AFP contributed to this report Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter