Syria’s Al-Sharaa Reaffirms Commitment to Climate Goals at COP30 in Brazil
Al-Sharaa of Syria promises to support climate goals at COP30. Attendance at the Amazon summit precedes meetings with Trump in Washington following the lifting of sanctions by the UN Security Council.
In the most recent indication that the war-torn nation is reintegrating into the international community, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa joined world leaders at the United Nations COP30 summit in Brazil and pledged his support to global efforts to prevent climate change.
In addition to inviting investments in renewable energy as part of his nation’s “ambitious” plans for restoration and recovery, Al-Sharaa informed the Brazil conference on Thursday that his nation was completely on board with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The president emphasised the urgency of addressing climate change, which struck Syria hard this year with “a drought unlike any it has seen in over six decades,” while acknowledging the complex challenges Syria faced following the 14-year civil war that ultimately overthrew long-time president Bashar al-Assad last December in a decisive lightning offensive led by al-Sharaa.
He urged countries to fortify “bonds of cooperation from the Amazon to the Barada and Euphrates rivers, within a framework of strong inter-state collaboration and in support of the growing role of developing nations.”
Prior to his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, he travelled to the Amazon. Following Trump’s statement to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) this year that climate change is the world’s “greatest con job,” the White House decided not to send high-level officials to the summit.
Another step away from the international isolation that characterised the al-Assad years was taken on Thursday when the UN Security Council voted to lift the sanctions placed on al-Sharaa and his interior minister, Anas Khattab.
The US-backed resolution was viewed as primarily symbolic because sanctions were lifted each time al-Sharaa had to leave Syria.
He demanded that all sanctions against his nation be lifted at the annual UNGA meeting in September, becoming the first Syrian head of state to do so in nearly 60 years.
Additionally, the arms embargo and asset freeze will be repealed. In December, President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was overthrown by opposition fighters led by Al-Sharaa.
The al-Assad family’s 53-year rule came to an end when his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched an onslaught on November 27, 2024, and reached Damascus in just 12 days.
Syria is anticipated to join the US-led anti-ISIL (ISIS) alliance, according to US special envoy Tom Barrack, who called it “a big step” and “remarkable” on Saturday.
