**1.2 Strengthening preparedness for improving communities' resilience**

The Sendai framework for Disateter Risk Reduction 2015-20301 prioritizes reducing social, economic, and environmental vulnerability, through improving early warning systems and strengthening preparedness for effective response, as a tool for enhancing disaster-resilient societies [7]. The impact of conflict in terms of weak governance and absence of governmental legislation and policies, will increase the risk of climate change, such as food insecurity and loss of livelihoods assists [8]. According to a CARE International livelihoods assessment report published in 2016, it was indicated that from the consequence of the protracted crisis in Syria, families have suffered from significant losses of assets and income generation opportunities,

<sup>1</sup> The Sendai Framework is the successor instrument to the Hyogo Frame for Action 2005- 2015. It ecognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.

#### *Transformation Action to Combat Desertification: A Direct Carbon Saving Mechanism… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101462*

in both rural and urban areas [9]. The losses in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 are four times more compared to 2010, which has increased vulnerability and poverty of the population across Syria accordingly [10].

Therefore, improving the resilience of Syrian communities, development and humanitarian actors should ensure having mutual benefits that are focused on improving the ability of the communities to anticipate, cope with, and recover from the double impact of climate change and war [11].

For example, due to electricity shortages, Syrians in the south governorates were forced to rely on diesel power generators to meet domestic, industrial, and agricultural needs. However, diesel is proving not to be the most stable source of energy, especially with its expensive cost, which impacted livelihood opportunities, and depleted communities' productive assets [12]. On the other hand, using diesel power as a source of fuel increases the emission of carbon dioxide "CO2" in the atmosphere [13].

Therefore, shifting attention to the solar energy sector has potential for communities in South Syria to mitigate the impact of climate change and enhance their livelihoods resilience [14]. As for Jordan, this will provide it with more than enough energy to function, allowing for a decrease in dependency on the ever-shrinking water resources in the region [15].

The research was conducted in June 2018, prior to the conciliation agreement between the Syrian regime forces and opposition groups in the south. It aimed to investigate how the implementation of solar panel systems, as a source of renewable energy at the household level, or a small scale of enterprises, can increase the carbon saving for the direct measures of GHG emissions, caused by a specific activity [16]. This could lead to the strengthening communities' resilience. Accordingly, the research findings will discuss the importance of renewable energy for humanitarian livelihoods' resilience initiatives in South Syria. And lastly, the research will recommend the potential mechanisms that would empower communities, to participate more actively in community resilience.

### **1.3 Research objectives**

The research assessed solar panel initiatives, implemented by humanitarian aids in South Syria, as a case study to highlight the importance of using renewable energy technologies for climate change mitigation and how such interventions could be articulated toward improving community resilience in South Syria. The research objectives are as follows: (i) to identify and critically review the importance of renewable energy resources for the humanitarian livelihood resilience initiatives in South Syria governorates; (ii) to infer the viability of using renewable energy (such as solar panels at a small scale of households and industrial uses) toward improving the communities' resilience in South Syria; (iii) in addition, to estimate the effectiveness of carbon trading in South Syria for post-conflict management, and climate change mitigation; and (iv) to propose potential mechanisms to empower communities in laying the basis for climate change mitigation and resilience.

#### **1.4 Research questions**

The research focuses on the following questions:

• What are the main challenges and opportunities to adopt renewable energy initiatives in the Syrian conflict context along with transboundary water resources management considerations?

