A decade of conflict left Syria with pressing environmental security challenges. This includes both direct damages from military actions, and such indirect impact as weak environmental governance and disruption of ecosystem services, including water purification and waste management. Conflict-driven deforestation, biodiversity loss, aggravated water scarcity and soil degradation, along with their impacts on agriculture, add to Syria’s vulnerability to the climate crisis and weakening of the country’s capacity for climate adaptation.
These issues need to be addressed to allow for Syria’s economic recovery and development, strengthen its resilience in the face of the climate crisis, and enable the safe return of Syrian refugees.
