This Syrian Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) represent the contribution to support international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change in compliance with environmental conventions, protocols and agreements, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and in line with national priorities.
The document consists of both mitigation and adaptation measures. Intervention sectors relating to the contribute to reduce emissions are (i) energy, to increase the contribution of renewable energy to future supply and reduce dependence on fossil fuels together with greenhouse gas emissions in the generation sector; (ii) forests, lands and agriculture to develop the sector as a whole and to address the impacts of global warming; (iii) transport, to mitigate emissions; (iv) industry, to meet the environmental standards introducing advanced production chains; (v) solid waste, implementing projects related to the sorting of solid waste from the source and treatment plants, encouraging the recycling industry, and converting the sanitary landfill gases into energy; and (vi) housing, to develop modern and sustainable urban communities adopting interventions that meet the structural, environmental, as well as energy conservation criteria.
Measures for adaptation with climate change regard (i) water resources management, to reduce vulnerability and focus on sustainability of agricultural production and protection of the environment; (ii) conservation of biodiversity, to remedy the critical conditions due to the deterioration of some ecosystems, especially in forests, and to the decline or disappearance of some wild plants; (iii) combating land degradation and desertification; (iv) integrated coastal zone management; and (v) development of early warning systems to increase the capacity of the infrastructure and improve readiness to resilience.
To make agriculture and forestry more productive and sustainable, the Government will (i) organize agricultural production and determine appropriate agricultural rotations, according to the capacity of natural and terrestrial resources; (ii) rehabilitate degraded pastures and apply conservation agriculture; (iii) support renewable energy projects for agricultural uses; (iii) raise the efficiency of irrigation water use by supporting water harvesting projects, using highly efficient irrigation methods, and providing actual quantities of water needed by plants, as well as using supplementary irrigation to irrigate rain crops during droughts; (iv) improve the current agricultural practices (changing sowing dates and deepening, improving plant nutrition, using of crops with low water needs, drought- resistant crops, diversification of cultivated crops, combination of crop cultivation, domestic animal husbandry); (v) achieve a sustainable management of forest wealth and increase forest area, developing and rehabilitating burned and degraded forests, implement integrated management of natural and artificial forest fires, and adopt participatory approach to enhance the role of forests in carbon sequestration; (vi) establish temporary nurseries for the propagation of endangered plants; and (vii) conduct surveys and documentation of degraded forest areas and affected animal and plant species.
In order to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the document envisages (i) to motivate local communities economically promoting the establishment of medium and small rural handicraft, traditional and food industries in the rural areas in order to increase employment opportunities ; and (ii) to improve the current agricultural practices providing agricultural and rural extension services to both males and females, and strengthen market linkages.