FAO and Green Climate Fund announce Syria’s readiness for climate finance

Damascus 26 July 2021: A two-year capacity building programme has reached its final stage announcing Syria as a ready to implement projects to adapt to and mitigate climate change in several sectors, mainly agriculture, natural resources, environmental and energy sectors. Thanks to FAO and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the programme has involved all relevant stakeholders, under the umbrella of the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment (MoLAE), in agreeing national priorities and plans to address climate change.

The FAO-GCF programme was initially aimed at strengthening the capacity of the National Designated Authority (NDA) within MoLAE; building stakeholder knowledge about GCF processes, funding windows, etc; and preparing Syria’s climate profile, including both adaptation and mitigation options.  The programme achieved three specific milestones, including engagement with GCF; the implementation of a well-structured and well-equipped NDA; and the development of the first two project concept notes that would meet GCF investment criteria.

The two projects selected reflect the country’s priorities agreed upon during intensive consultations with the NDA and involved stakeholders. The first focuses on strengthening resilience to climate change through an early warning system linked to the agriculture-water-energy nexus. The second contains elements towards “Damascus -a sustainable green city”, through the improvement of the infrastructure and the urban environment.

“Climate change and drought are impacting agriculture and food production in the country. They threaten vulnerable farmers’ livelihoods at all levels,” stated Mike Robson, FAO Representative in the Syrian Arab Republic. “After years of destructive crisis, Syria is still struggling to achieve the resilience needed to adapt to unexpected climate events. For instance, this year, although rainfall was generally adequate, the distribution was unusually uneven, with little or no rain after the end of March 2021.  This seems to have had disastrous consequences for rain-fed wheat production in most parts of the country, with farmers unable to access irrigation or adapt to this situation.”

FAO is committed to help countries achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal – SDG 13 Climate Actions – by developing national climate plans with its key counterpart Ministries, in addition to encouraging smallholder farmers more generally to adopt climate-smart practices for their crop and livestock production.