Сирия: Экологические проблемы, политическая нестабильность и гражданская война.

Major environmental issues in Syria include deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, desertification, water pollution from the dumping of raw sewage and wastes from petroleum refining, and inadequate supplies of potable water. Water shortages, exacerbated by population growth, industrial expansion, and water pollution, are a significant long term constraint on economic development. The water shortages in Syria turned into five successive years of drought, prolonging the environmental issues that Syria already had. The Assad government (Arab Socialist Ba'ath
Party – Syrian Region) came into power in Syria in 1970. Hafez al Assad ruled as President from 1971 to 2000, and following his death the presidency passed to his son, Bashar al Assad. The lack of change in environmental policies contributed to the five successive years of drought. Also, the continuous ‘stability and peace’ movement for four decades that was instilled by the Assad government transformed into institutionalizing fear and violence amongst its own people had a effect in the 2011 Arab spring. The 2011 Arab Spring, which began as a civil uprising, quickly transformed into the Syrian Civil War. The outbreak of the Civil War in Syria has been detrimental to the economy and environment.

The Syrian government under the Ba'ath party has been around since 1970, and has managed to stay in power until the present day by instilling an authoritarian rule on Syria and its people. The ideology of fear and violence against Syria's people was perpetrated by former President Hafez al Assad (1971–2000). Upon Hafez al Assad's death, his son – Bashar al Assad – was named head of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, and is the current President of Syria (2000–present). Syria has various ethnic and religious cleavages that divided but also instilled a sense of loyalty amongst certain parts of the country. The main minorities in Syria include the Alawites (12 percent), the Greek Orthodox Christians and other Christian sects (9 percent), the Kurds (9 percent), and the Druze (3 percent). The Sunni religious group is considered to be the majority amongst the Syrian population. The ethnic and religious diversity in Syria has caused an unequal distribution of power. The Sunni Muslims dominated politically and ensured that the Alawites were denied any political input. The Alawites – a minority – wanted to have an input in their country, causing them to claim the armed forces and the Ba’ath Party. This created a secular and unstable Syria. The lack of stability in the country originated from the formation of the Ba’ath party in 1963. The Ba’ath party was led by ex peasant military officers who took power with a radical point of view creating quite a few oppositions such as the old oligarchs, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Nasserists. The Ba’ath Party wanted to become “the most important and ultimately successful of the radical movements that arose in post independence Syria”, which meant that they were less likely to prevail if they mobilized from below, and more likely to succeed if they launched a “revolution from above”. When the Ba’ath Party gained control of the economy, it also created instability between the government and the opposition. In 1970, when Hafez al Assad came to power, it was ensured that he would leave behind the radical Ba’athist ideology that the leaders before him had held on to, leading him to opt for a more monarchical presidency. His presidency was the beginning of a façade presidential republic. There were no real oppositions because he made sure to concentrate the power in his hands. The severe drought caused an abnormal population growth amongst the urban area of Syria. In 1997, 21,730 tonnes of industrial hazardous waste were collected from five of Syria's largest cities, and 470,000 tonnes of phosphogypsum were also produced. The phosphate is exposed on the population and environment through mining and transportation of phosphate fertilizers. The pollution that is inflicted on the Mediterranean Sea are land based such as sewage and urban run off, urban solid wastes, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), heavy metals, organohalogen compounds, radioactive substances, nutrients, suspended solids, and hazardous wastes. It has become an economic incentive to purchase oil from ISIS even if it means to fund a terrorist organization. Many of the internally displaced refugees have sought to avoid the conflict by migrating to Syria's coastal region.

Soil erosion occurs when wind and water remove soil from an area. If the topsoil and organic nutrients are removed, the land will become desert like and it will be difficult to support plant or animal life, in a process known as desertification. The area also has steep slopes which further the erosion risk. Syria's drought, which may have inflamed the civil conflict, as well as the mismanagement of Syrian water resources, resulted in a water shortage in Syria's agricultural region. This shortage forced approximately 1.5 million agricultural workers to abandon their farms and head to urban areas. Without irrigation to keep the vegetation alive, the crops failed. This reduction in vegetation made the soil vulnerable to erosion and allowed for it to be picked up on a massive scale, causing the dust storm. The intense bombing also stirred up soil, contributing to soil erosion by making the soil easier to transport by wind and water.

Solid waste management was already a problem prior to the Syrian Civil War, however the violent conditions have significantly worsened the situation. The conflict has caused a shutdown of government operated waste management services. This has led to uncontrolled burning and dumping. Both of these have the potential to pollute the environment with airborne toxins or through chemicals seeping into the soil and groundwater resources. As the war continues and poverty increases, more people are looking through the waste to find food, construction materials, or items that can be sold. Municipal, medical, and hazardous waste are being mixed because of this collapse, which makes handling the waste especially dangerous. The excess waste can also promote the spread of diseases and parasites throughout the country. People have started to create their own waste programs alongside those in place by the UNDP, ICRC, and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

Before the UN Sustainable Development Plan was initiated, there were several conferences conducted working towards improving the environment in Syria. In 1992, within the Environment and Development Conference, there were conferences that were conducted. The Earth Summit for Environment and Development focused on combatting desertification, biodiversity, and climate change. Within the Environment and Development Conferences covered several other topics such as poverty, development, environment protection, human rights, good governance, women empowerment, children and youth issues. In 2002, the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) conference was conducted. The summit planned the sustainable action plan, which would be renewed in the United Nation's conference on sustainable development in 2012. The WSSD was focused on implementing the policies to work towards a more sustainable Syria. The Ministry of Environmental Affairs implemented the State Five Year Plan while focusing on poverty, quality of life, education, health, women empowerment, and environment protection. Prior to the 2011 uprising, the Ministry was determined to improve the environment while also improving social and economic issues as well. In 2012, sustainability priorities were not the same for all actors. The producers, consumers, government institutions, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and Private sector all have different priorities for Syria, and may not be focusing on the Five Year Plan (2006 2010) that was initially set out to accomplish with all three aspects such as economical, environmental and social. In fact, they were focused on mainly improving the economy demonstrating the lack of achievement towards the Five Year Plan and a sustainable Syria.

In the 2012 National Report on Syria about the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, it was reported that there are several weaknesses that would cause the Sustainable Development Plan. There is a lack of understanding in the working sector in terms of sustainable development. The Assad government and the elites are concerned with only one aspect of sustainability causing the neglect of the other issues in Syria. Focusing on improving the economy but ignoring the social and environmental aspects is detrimental to the Sustainable Development Plan. Considering the pressing economic issues in Syria, it would cause the government to make impulsive decisions and causing the failure of the plan. On October 20, 2015, the United Nations held a General Assembly to conclude the debate on sustainable development. It was concluded that the sustainable plan had the potential of improving the quality of life in Syria, but after the 2011 uprising which erupted into a Civil war, it became impossible for the plan to succeed.