Abstract

Sustainability is critically important for human development. The concept of sustainable development embodies the view that social, economic and environmental objectives should be complementary and interdependent. Sustainable development requires policy changes across sectors and coherence among them, and entails balancing society’s economic, social and environmental objectives, integrating them through mutually supportive policies and practices, and making appropriate tradeoffs. The Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal project (RSDSC) is an example of a megaproject that may contribute significantly to sustainable development. This chapter examines the manner in which the RSDSC contributes to the key factors for sustainability, along with the positive and negative environmental and socio-economic impacts of the project. The large amount of desalinated water expected from this project will be of great significance to partners in the region. The stratification and dilution of the Dead Sea water mass with sea water may cause losses for companies, the precipitation of gypsum, and changes in the environment of the upper water mass. The feasibility of this project must be thoroughly studied.

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