Enab Baladi – Omar Alaa Eldin
The announcement of the establishment of a Ministry for Emergencies and Disasters in the governmental formation named by the Syrian president for the transitional phase, Ahmed al-Sharaa, on March 30, raised questions about the tasks of this ministry and its role in the coming period.
The ministerial portfolio was assigned to Raed al-Saleh, the former director of the Syria Civil Defence organization (The White Helmets), who participated in the establishment of the organization in 2013 and became its director until he assumed the ministry.
The Syria Civil Defence, which received international support, contributed to saving many lives following the previous regime’s bombardment of civilian areas or those affected by natural disasters, and has won more than 30 international awards.
The Minister of Disasters and Emergencies, Raed al-Saleh, confirmed that one of his ministry’s tasks is to protect the environment, which has been destroyed as a tool of war against the Syrians, raising a question about the nature of the tasks that the ministry will undertake, and whether environmental directorates that were part of the Ministry of Local Administration will join it.
Legal and environmental researcher Firas Haj Yahya told Enab Baladi that the current conditions in Syria highlight the urgent need for a Ministry of Emergencies and Disasters due to the circumstances left by years of conflict and the deterioration of infrastructure. He considered that assigning the Ministry of Emergencies environmental tasks would be a significant burden, but integrating environmental issues into the ministry’s responsibilities could be positive in enhancing comprehensive response capabilities.
Meanwhile, environmental expert Mowafaq Sheikh Ali stated to Enab Baladi that it is difficult to grasp the environmental situation in Syria currently in light of the absence of scientific assessments and field surveys, which necessitates conducting what is called “Post-conflict assessment.”
What are its tasks?
In his speech during the government formation on March 30, al-Saleh stated that the establishment of the Ministry of Emergencies would enhance the ability to respond to the needs of cities, towns, and camps in areas that have suffered from the ravages of war and destruction.
He added that the ministry’s tasks are not limited to emergency responses when they occur, but also include proper planning for natural and non-natural disasters to mitigate their impacts proactively.
Al-Saleh emphasized that one of the new ministry’s tasks is to protect the environment, which has been destroyed as a tool of war against Syrians, considering that establishing a specialized national system in this field is a fundamental step towards building a safer future, ensuring that planning and rapid response to emergencies and disasters are an integral part of the state’s approach.
Following al-Saleh’s assumption of the Ministry of Emergencies and Disasters in the Syrian government, the organization issued a statement mentioning that al-Saleh had resigned from his position as head of the organization and from all the positions he held in the boards of directors of the entities affiliated with the organization.
According to the organization’s internal regulations, Munir Mustafa, the vice president of the board and head of humanitarian affairs, temporarily leads the White Helmets until a new president is elected by the organization’s general assembly in its next annual conference.
According to the statement, the White Helmets intend to transfer part of its civil defense tasks to the Ministry of Emergencies and Disasters and Environment in the Syrian government, contributing to strengthening the establishment of effective national institutions to serve Syrians. A special committee was formed to develop an executable mechanism for this transition during a studied transitional period.
What is required from the ministry?
From the perspective of legal and environmental researcher Firas Haj Yahya, the core tasks of the Ministry of Emergencies and Disasters manifest in planning and preparing in advance to face natural and human disasters, coordinating between governmental and private entities to ensure an effective and swift response, and managing rescue, relief, and reconstruction operations after crises occur.
Additionally, its responsibilities should include training and qualifying personnel and raising community awareness about risk management and disaster impact mitigation.
According to Haj Yahya, there is an urgent need for a Ministry of Emergencies and Disasters in the current circumstances in Syria, particularly due to the effects of years of conflict, the deterioration of infrastructure, and the absence of proper emergency response planning. Furthermore, the importance of this ministry increases with the rising environmental challenges and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and fires, making it a necessary requirement rather than a luxury, according to the researcher.
Regarding the burden that the ministry would bear if it assumed responsibility for the environment, the legal and environmental researcher considered that including environmental protection tasks within the responsibilities of the Ministry of Emergencies adds a significant burden to it, especially since local administration had primarily taken on these tasks. However, integrating environmental issues into the ministry’s responsibilities could positively enhance the comprehensive and coordinated response to environmental disasters, provided that the necessary resources and capabilities are allocated to cover these additional tasks.
Conversely, researcher and consultant in natural resource and environmental management Mowafaq Sheikh Ali believes that keeping environmental directorates within the structure of the Ministry of Local Administration gives it the power to implement the currently valid Environmental Law, as the work of these directorates under this law is intertwined with numerous other general directorates.
According to Sheikh Ali, international funding institutions now view the environment as part of a country’s commitment to global policies, thus it does not represent an emergency situation to be placed under the Ministry of Emergencies. There are significant funding opportunities available globally for the environmental sector, highlighting the importance of having strong environmental directorates that rely on competencies and experiences and cooperate with related UN programs, funding institutions, and countries that propose funding programs directed at the environmental sector.
According to Haj Yahya, the new ministry should establish specialized administrations and bodies such as a rapid emergency response agency, early warning and monitoring centers, and bodies specialized in environmental awareness and education, in addition to establishing specialized administrations for managing environmental crises and coordinating with international organizations to ensure cooperation and exchange of expertise.
The current environmental reality in Syria faces multiple risks, according to the researcher, the most prominent of which are pollution resulting from industrial waste and sewage, desertification and drought, declining levels of groundwater, and fire risks, especially in forests and agricultural areas.
The ministry must prepare by developing proactive strategies and well-studied emergency plans, enhancing early warning systems, building the capacities of national personnel, and strengthening international and regional cooperation in the field of environment and emergencies.
The environmental reality in Syria
Most of the studies monitored by Enab Baladi agree that the ecosystem in Syria has been affected by the war on multiple levels, including air pollution, carbon dioxide emissions, deforestation, depletion of water resources, poor waste management, loss of vegetation cover, soil erosion, and food insecurity.
A survey study titled “The Environmental Impact of Syria’s Conflict” published by the Arab Reform Initiative indicated that the adverse environmental conditions that Syria faced prior to the war were among the fundamental factors contributing to the outbreak of armed conflict.
These include poor management of natural resources and waste, inadequate government responses to pollution caused by mining, and the severity of the drought that occurred from 2006 to 2010, which harmed the agricultural sector (which constitutes 25% of the GDP).
Additionally, rising unemployment rates and worsening food insecurity resulted in waves of mass migration towards urban centers. With increasing population growth, water scarcity heightened the risk of political instability.
Syria ranks 65th on a list of 191 countries at risk of humanitarian disaster or natural disaster related to climate change and seventh on the list of countries least prepared to respond to such disasters, according to a study published by the World Weather Attribution organization.
The Syrian government’s bombardment has targeted the country’s vital environmental infrastructure, such as energy, water systems, and sewage. The networks have suffered deliberate damage; according to the study, the percentage of electricity transmission lines attacked between 2011 and 2014 was 40%, while the number of damaged and destroyed homes exceeded 300,000 by 2017.
Moreover, the fighting in Syria has generated massive amounts of debris and waste, affecting residential and industrial areas, creating pollution threats, according to another study by the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS) in 2018, in addition to the deterioration of existing inadequate solid waste management systems due to the war and their complete collapse in conflict-affected areas.
It is difficult to fully understand the current environmental situation in Syria in light of the absence of scientific assessments and field surveys, which necessitate conducting what is called a “Post conflict assessment”, according to the researcher and consultant in natural resource management and environment, Mowafaq al-Sheikh Ali.
In his conversation with Enab Baladi, the researcher suggested that the environmental situation can be framed in the following aspects:
Severe destruction of sewage networks and treatment plants out of service, which led to the breakdown of this system, especially in rural areas and cities destroyed by the previous regime. This means sewage is mixing with surface and groundwater resources. This applies to refugee gatherings (camps), where this aspect has not been addressed at all or partially. Displacement and the concentration of high population densities in the cities and towns that received the displaced, which includes all provinces, resulting in a loss of control over the collection, transport, and treatment of household waste, including health waste, the effects of which we see across the country. Waste resulting from military operations, including unexploded ordnance and explosives, in addition to the inability to ascertain the nature of the explosives used in military operations and hence their remaining effects on soil and water. The oil industry with its various supply chains from wells to transport lines to uncontrolled refining to storage and the pollution this industry causes under normal circumstances. Deforestation, whether by cutting or burning, along with the decline in vegetation cover and the resulting effects of climate change, leading to severe deterioration in natural vegetation cover.Al-Sheikh Ali argues that there is a need for scientific and accurate assessment using remote sensing techniques, field verification, along with the collection and analysis of samples from various physical environments.
Regarding soil degradation, whether physical due to the pressures of fires or the movements of heavy vehicles, natural rehabilitation, which relies on climatic factors combined with vegetation cover to restore the soil, will take many years. As for chemical pollution of the soil, despite nature’s role in remediation, remediation processes are very costly (for example, the cost of treating one cubic meter of soil polluted by oil spills can reach 75 dollars).
Concerning forests, al-Sheikh Ali told Enab Baladi: “Unfortunately, we have lost a material heritage of hundreds of years of trees in our forests from the coast to Jabal al-Zawiya, to Jabal al-Arab, reaching Jabal Abdul Aziz. We will need decades to recover part of what we have lost, and perhaps most importantly, we may have lost forever wild plants or animals of genetic origins.”
Fearing the loss of scientific documentation of wild plants in Syria, the environmental consultant established a specialized database for plant biodiversity in 2007 named “Flora Syria On Line,” which is considered the broadest database documenting all wild plant species in Syria.
A United Nations study published in 2020 estimated that Syria needs 360 million dollars to stop environmental degradation in the country by 2030.
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