GEO-6 Regional Asssement for West Asia


Before the war, Syria was affected by persistent drought, unsustainable agricultural policies and governance of natural resources, which intensified environmental degradation, (Aw-Hassan et al. 2014; De Châtel 2014). The catastrophic droughts and absence of food support in the Euphrates region, forced thousands of families and ranchers to abandon their villages. Three hundred thousand people moved to urban centres in 2009 across the country (Syrian Arab Republic, Ministry of Environmental Affairs 2009).


In Yemen, water scarcity led to power struggles for resource control, which combined with food insecurity, increased the number of internally displaced people, as well as refugees and migrants (Glass 2010; USAID 2014). In turn, poverty has reinforced overexploitation and environmental degradation. With ever-increasing social stratification, exacerbated by conflicts and tensions, a vicious cycle has been created leading the way towards climate-induced conflicts (Sipkin 2012). Building further momentum are other numerous environmental concerns, including pollution, degradation of soil, coastal erosion, destruction of key habitats and loss of species, desertification and the lack of waste management (EEAS 2013).


1.2.3 The nexus and economic development


The natural resource systems of water, energy and food are complex and inextricably linked, so that any decision about one issue can have significant ripple-down effects for others, not only in the environment, but also for social and economic stability. Rather than view these interactions as a hindrance, their relationships should be seen as an opportunity to tackle development issues through a multi-sectoral approach. The nexus approach aims to understand how the water, energy and food (agriculture) sectors relate to each other and how this understanding can be used to make policy decisions that promote sustainable development (Bizikova et al. 2013). In practice, the nexus presents a conceptual approach to better understand, manage and systematically analyse the interactions (and dependencies) of the natural environment with human activities, and to investigate ways to coordinate management of water, energy and the demand for food,


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Table 1.2.1: West Asia, water stress, 1995–2010 Country


Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar


Yemen Jordan


Lebanon OPT Syria


1995 0.56 0.77 0.0


0.53


Saudi Arabia 0.31 UAE


0.55 0.79 0.67 0.0


0.88 0.15


2005 0.67 0.84 0.35 0.68 0.59 0.63 0.94 0.90 0.35 0.95 0.49


Water Resources Stress Index 2000 0.65 0.78 0.31 0.54 0.52 0.58 0.82 0.88 0.27 0.93 0.36


Note: Values of 1 indicate high stress and 0 indicate least stress Source: UNEP 2012


given the availabilities of these natural resources across sectors and scales.


Water and economic development


West Asia has experienced different degrees of natural and anthropogenic water stress (Table 1.2.1) affecting the sustainability of scarce water resources and the preservation of ecosystem equilibrium.


The fragile and vulnerable arid environment and its low resilience in the face of external natural and anthropogenic activities, including the projected impacts of climate change (Figure 1.2.10), present a major challenge to decision makers who must achieve adequate, safe and dependable water and food supplies in the future to improve human well-being in their societies, and to meet the requirements of future generations (More...8).


Water scarcity and shortage are attributable to large temporal and spatial variations in most hydrological


2010 0.81 0.87 0.37 0.71 0.61 0.65 0.97 0.94 0.41 0.98 0.51


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