Project Overview

Lebanon’s water sector is highly vulnerable to climate change, with reduced snow cover and rising water stress affecting urban systems. This project strengthens the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) by enhancing climate change adaptation (CCA) in water resource planning for environmentally sensitive areas such as Nahr El Kaleb’s watershed, while also considering impacts on apple industry and critical apple supply chains.

It addresses key barriers to adaptation, including limited mainstreaming of Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) into national and local planning and budgeting, weak institutional capacities, insufficient climate and water data for municipalities and industry, and low implementation of existing water plans. The project supports a shift from reactive responses to proactive, evidence-based water management integrated into national, municipal, and industrial planning.

Project Objective

• Develop a comprehensive Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) strategy and a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Roadmap defining priority sectors, phased actions, institutional responsibilities, financing pathways, and monitoring mechanisms to guide implementatio to provide Lebanon with a clear and coordinated framework for effective climate adaptation.
• Evidence-Based Management: Improve the knowledge base regarding climate impacts on water supply for Nahr El Kalb, as a sensitive watershed.
• Institutional Capacity: Build the technical skills of national and municipal stakeholders to identify and implement adaptation actions.
• Inclusive Engagement: Establish gender-responsive stakeholder mechanisms to ensure balanced representation in climate decision-making.
• Monitoring & Learning: Create sub-national monitoring mechanisms to track climate vulnerabilities and adaptation progress at the community level.
   

Achievements & Key Figures

• Developed and submitted Lebanon’s first CCA and NAP aligned with NDC 3.0. in consultation with over 120 stakeholders across eight priority sectors.
• Conducting national and sectoral vulnerability and risk assessments for the industrial areas in the Metn region and for the apple supply chain in the upper area of Nahr El Kaleb watershed. 
• Developed the executive level course framework on climate change adaptation based on consultation sessions with public officials and academic institutions. 

GESI Component (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion)

The project is designated as GEN2, ensuring that gender equality is a core principle in climate resilience planning. It mandates that consultations are gender-balanced to incorporate both women’s and men’s perspectives into adaptation strategies. Furthermore, technical capacity building explicitly targets a minimum of 53% female representation among project participants and institutional stakeholders