The Qasidiyah Reservoir reveals a sharp decline in the water flowing through the Euphrates river from 2006
- 2009. (Image): NASA)
The
The Tigris and the Euphrates, the
two life-giving rivers that
nurtured the cradle of
Existential
civilization for thousands of
years, could virtually disappear
by 2040. That is what Iraqis face
Threat
if Baghdad, Ankara, and the
international community do not
act swiftly to meet the distinct
yet related challenges of climate
change and increasing water
OF CLIMATE CHANGE scarcity.
AND WATER SCARCITY
IN IRAQ While climate change is a global
threat, it adversely affects some
parts of the world
disproportionately more than
Enabling Peace in Iraq Center
the rest of our planet. Iraq is
among the places where that
impact is being more acutely felt
by millions of people. These
communities’ vulnerability to
environmental shocks is
exacerbated by a legacy of past
conflicts, ongoing neglect,
underinvestment in modern
infrastructure, and
mismanagement of natural
resources. Iraq today ranks fifth
among countries most
vulnerable to the consequences
of climate change, according to
the United Nations Environment
Program. 1
As climate change accelerates,
Iraq’s food production is
dwindling, its ancient rivers and
marshes are drying, its cities are
becoming hotter and less and
less livable, millions of its
children face greater health risks,
fragile communities are
displaced, and desertification is
consuming more arable land.
Urgent action is needed to raise
awareness about the danger
climate change poses to millions
of Iraqis, to support Iraqis who
1
are leading efforts to fight and
mitigate climate change, and to
foster greater coordination and
cooperation between government
action and civil society efforts on
both climate action and water
conservation.
Water scarcity and its causes
In recent decades, Iraq has faced
ongoing and detrimental
environmental changes, including
abnormal warming, intense
droughts, declining and
fluctuating precipitation, reduced
inflows from shared rivers, rising
salinity, and more frequent and
harsh dust storms.
At the heart of climate change
dynamics are rising temperatures.
According to Berkeley Earth, Iraq’s
climate has warmed at double the
global rate since the beginning of
the twentieth century, rising by as
many as 4.1 degrees Fahrenheit. 2
The water crisis is regional in
scope, creating challenges that
span borders at a time when
conflicts, competition over
resources, and instability create
unique obstacles to diplomacy and
cooperation. According to World
Resources Institute data, the
Middle East and North Africa
region has 12 of the 17 “most water-
stressed countries” in the world.6
And to cope with dwindling water
volumes and rising demands of
ever-growing populations, Turkey
and Iran have been constructing
more dams along rivers that flow
into Iraq, especially the Tigris and
its tributaries.
Turkey’s extensive dam
construction programs are a major
source of anxiety for Iraq. Ankara’s
ambitious plans for the rivers
include the Grand Anatolia Project,
which was first conceived in the
Rising temperatures are wreaking
havoc on the delicate balance with
nature that the inhabitants of
Mesopotamia had for thousands of
years learned to painstakingly
preserve to survive on a narrow
strip of rich alluvial plains
surrounded by harsh deserts.
The warming leads to less
precipitation and, at the same
time, higher evaporation rates
from rivers, reservoirs and
irrigation systems, and therefore
reduced water availability
throughout the Tigris and
Euphrates river systems. To
illustrate the problem’s severity, a
UNICEF report released in August
2021 pointed out that Iraq’s last
rainy season was “among the driest
in 40 years,” causing the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers to lose 29 percent
and 73 percent of their usual water
flow rates, respectively.
Evidence of the severity of water
scarcity is hard to miss. In March of
Iraq’s climate
has warmed at
double the global
rate since the
beginning of the
twentieth century,
rising by as many
as 4.1 degrees
Fahrenheit.
middle of last century and involves
as many as 22 dams with 19
hydroelectric power projects over
the two rivers to generate up to a
quarter of Turkey’s electricity
needs. 7 In particular, the
this year, footage posted by Iraqi
environmentalists on social media
showed that Lake Sawa, a desert
lake that for centuries represented
a rare oasis in Iraq’s southern
Muthanna province, has
completely dried. 3 Sawa’s demise
was in part due to excessive and
unregulated overuse of
groundwater—that otherwise
sustained the lake—for farming
and other economic activities in
surrounding areas. Meanwhile,
reports from the adjacent Dhi-Qar
province showed that one of the
province’s marshes, Abu Zarag,
was on the verge of disappearing. 4
It was followed shortly by alarming
reports from Chibayish, another
one of Iraq’s celebrated southern
marshes, which by this summer
had lost much of its water,
threatening the livelihoods of an
estimated 150,000 people who
depend on it for fishing, hunting,
and raising their water buffaloes.5
completion of the Ilisu dam in
2020 and plans to build another
dam, al-Jazra, on the Tigris have
caused great concern among
Iraqis due to their severe impact
on Iraq’s water share of the Tigris.
After Ilisu became operational,
officials at Iraq’s Water Resource
Ministry said that the Tigris water
flow dropped by half, from 600
cubic meters per second to around
300 cubic meters per second. 8
Water officials fear the al-Jazra
dam will cause even more
damage. 9 Unlike the electricity-
focused Ilisu, al-Jazra is designed
as an irrigation reservoir,
which could lead to much smaller
water volumes being allowed to
flow down river and into Iraq.
2
A Ministry study released in
December 2021 anticipates that
the combined effects of climate
change and damming in Turkey
mean that water inflows to Iraq
"will decrease to 30 percent by
2035." 10 Given that Iraq’s water
inflows are estimated to be about
40 billion cubic meters, dropping
to 30 percent means the country
would receive only 11 billion cubic
meters annually. Measured against
annual demand of up to 53 billion
cubic meters, the study predicts
Lake Sawa in Iraq’s southern al-Muthanna province ceased to exist. (Image by @IraqClimate, March 2022)
increasing saltwater intrusion from
the Gulf, which is caused by rising
sea levels as well as the dwindling
water supply in the Tigris and
Euphrates.
To make matters worse, Iraq is
responding to Turkey’s dam
construction by building more
large dams of its own, most
notably on the Tigris river at
Makhoul. 12 But experts say this
policy may be counterproductive.
The local environmental group,
The Tigris River Protectors
Association, points out that every
the country’s water deficit to
exceed 80 percent of its needs.
Ankara blames factors beyond its
control for the mutual problem.
Turkish officials have argued
that mismanagement and
wasteful usage of water due to old
farming methods inside Iraq, and
not water usage upstream, are to
blame for their southern
neighbor’s water woes. 11 They have
also argued that water levels inside
Turkey were both lower and less
additional dam built reduces
water quantity downstream and
increases salinity. This is in part
due to the fact that Iraqi reservoirs
lose up to 10 percent of stored
water to evaporation. 13
Inefficiency in water usage due to
outdated irrigation methods
greatly contributes to waste and
evaporation, thus reducing Iraq’s
ability to benefit from the
shrinking water volumes it
receives. This is an issue that
requires urgent attention in a
country where agricultural
predictable than they used to be,
seldom exceeding 350 cubic
meters per second on average,
making it impossible to meet
Iraq’s demand to allow 500 cubic
meters per second.
As water flows from the north
dwindle, the quality of water faces
another threat from the south. In
the last half-decade, the salinity
level in some areas of southern
Iraq has increased by as much as
50-fold. This is in part due to
activities account for up to 85
percent of total water usage. 14
Finally, weak regulatory
environments also contribute to
water scarcity. Water remains a
severely undervalued resource
despite the scarcity. Throughout
many countries in the region,
and Iraq is no exception,
government subsidies and fear of
the political cost of unpopular
tariff reforms make water
artificially cheap, encouraging
waste and reducing the incentives
for conservation.
3
Flaring
Iraq is a victim of climate change,
but it is also a contributor to the
problem, primarily through the
wasteful flaring of associated gas, a
byproduct of oil production
operations.
The second largest OPEC producer
flares huge quantities of natural
gas, which rises to the surface
alongside crude oil, because the
country lacks sufficient
infrastructure to capture and
process it into useful fuels. During
the last decade, the amount of
flared gas increased rapidly as
the country ramped up oil
production, rising from 423 billion
cubic feet (bcf) in 2013, to 565 bcf
in 2015. According to the World
Bank, Iraq flared 632 bcf of natural
gas in 2019, making it the second-
The flaring problem has had
serious consequences In several
critical areas:
Environmental: Iraqi gas
flaring causes significant harm
to the environment on a global
scale. Iraqi gas flaring releases
nearly 10 percent of the
worldwide flaring emissions of
harmful greenhouse gases.
Economic: Currently, only half
of the gas that comes out of
Iraqi oil wells each day is
captured and processed. This
represents an estimated direct
annual economic loss of about
$2.5 billion in potential
revenue. Additionally, the
flared gas could provide fuel to
generate enough electricity to
power three million homes and
alleviate the severe power
shortages that have haunted
Iraqis for the past 3 decades.
Instead, Iraq resorts to
The combined
effects of climate
change and
damming in
Turkey mean
that water
inflows to Iraq
'will decrease to
30 percent by
2035.'
largest source of flared natural gas
after Russia. 15 To put that in
context, Iraqi officials estimate
that the country flares close to
using expensive alternative
fuels, and imported gas and
electricity, which costs the
country an estimated $6-8
billion per year. 17 There is also
the added indirect cost of lost
economic activity due to power
shortages, which in 2013 was
estimated to be $40 billion
annually.
Health: Burning natural gas is
making people who live in
areas adjacent to the gas flares
Iraq is a victim
of climate
change, but it is
also a contributor
to the problem,
half of its daily production of 2.8
bcf per day, releasing nearly 30
million tons of carbon dioxide a
year.
While flaring is intended to burn
all of the natural gas being
released by Iraq’s oil extraction,
dangerous levels of “fugitive
methane” still escape into the
atmosphere. This happens due to
venting, leaks, incomplete
combustion during flaring, and
accidents associated with the
country’s poor energy
infrastructure. In August of 2021,
satellites detected a huge plume
of methane gas over southern Iraq
that was likely the result of a
pipeline leak that was spewing an
estimated 130 tons of methane per
hour—equivalent to the amount of
greenhouse gasses emitted by
6,500 cars running for a year. 16
sick. In oil production hubs like
Basra, people have been
experiencing high rates of
respiratory diseases and
cancer. The burning of gas also
creates oily residues that
pollute water sources, kill plant
life, and cause skin disease. 18
Geopolitical: Iraq’s electricity
sector is precariously
dependent on Iran for much of
its fuel supplies. While Iraq
burns about 1.7 bcf/day, it
imports 0.7 bcf from Iran. In
2019, about 23 percent of Iraq’s
electricity was generated by
natural gas produced in Iran,
and Iraq imported about 5
percent of its electricity from
Iran. Iranian gas and electricity
deliveries to Iraq have been
unreliable, with disruption
during hot summer months
contributing to rising
discontent and protests.
4
 Two rows of gas flares glowing at the Zubair oil field (top left) as seen from the International Space Station in September, 2013. (Image: NASA)
Impact on agriculture
Over the past two years, the
economic impact of climate
change has been on full display as
reduced rainfall, and inability to
adapt to it, robbed Iraqi grain
farmers of much of their harvest.
The areas that suffered the most
were the northern provinces, once
considered Iraq’s breadbasket,
that depend on rainfall. In Ninewa,
out of 6 million dunams that rely
on rain for agriculture and were
farmed in 2020, only 300,000 (5
percent) were farmed in 2021.19 A
report by the WFP, FAO, the
International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), and the
World Bank underscored the role
played by the decline in rainfall in
the spring of 2021 in Ninewa and
Duhok. In these provinces, the
cumulative rainfall during that
period was “the second and third
lowest on record in 40 years.” 20
The paltry harvests confirmed the
fears. In August 2021, the Iraqi
Trade Ministry said that
farmers across Iraq delivered 3.36
million tons of wheat (down from 5
million the year before)
to the ministry’s silos by the
conclusion of the summer wheat
harvest. Officials noted that lack
of rain severely impacted the
harvest in the northern provinces.
Ninewa, which produced
920,000 tons in the previous
summer, was only able to deliver
only 89,100 tons, representing a
decline of more than 90 percent,
while the neighboring Kurdistan
region’s provinces saw their
harvest slashed by half.
On the national level, FAO said in
October 2021 wheat production for
the year was estimated to be “70
percent lower” than the previous
harvest and “barley production
negligible,” with the barley harvest
forecasted to be only 11,500 tons for
the season, down from 1.36 million
tons in 2020.
This year’s crops have not fared
much better as the country was
forced to cut its irrigated cultivated
land area by half due to water
scarcity. As a result, this summer’s
wheat harvest produced a mere 2
million tons, 60 percent lower than
the 2020 yield. 21
The limitations on agriculture were
particularly severe in Diyala, where
the entire grain growing season
was canceled. Iraqi officials had
expressed serious concern
5
about an “unprecedented”
decline in water levels at the
Sirwan river, which flows from Iran
into the Diyala river in Iraq.
According to officials at the
Darbandikhan dam, water flows
into Lake Darbandikhan declined
to 900 million cubic meters, down
from 4.7 billion cubic meters in
recent years. This has caused water
levels at this important reservoir to
reach their lowest since it was
built in 1961. In addition to the
damage to crops, water scarcity
forced the suspension of 80
percent of Diyala’s fisheries.
This catastrophic decline in food
production prompted FAO, WFP
and IFAD to urge action to address
water scarcity and other adverse
effects of climate change and poor
water management on
communities that rely mostly on
farming, fishing, and raising
Over this past
spring and
summer,
sandstorms had
become a nearly
weekly weather
event, causing
widespread
disruptions to
transportation
and economic
activities, and
causing serious
breathing
problems for
residents.
animals. They noted that in the
provinces of Ninewa and Salah ad-
Din, families were forced to borrow
or eat less food at “almost double
the national average.”
In southern provinces like Basra,
farmers have been facing heavy
salinization of their arable land.
This is expected to continue as sea
levels rise and river levels decline,
forcing seawater inland as far as
northern Basra City. The increased
salinity, which has risen by an
estimated 5,000 percent in the last
five years, has gradually destroyed
farms that used to produce ample
amounts of cucumbers and
tomatoes for local markets, and
slowly killed many of the millions
of date palms that once made Iraq
the largest producer of dates in the
world. The salinity and pollution
have also made the water toxic to
animals that are key to the survival
The scarcity of rain and surface
water inevitably means that
groundwater reserves will be
gradually depleted as farmers and
communities dig more wells, often
in an unregulated manner, to meet
their needs. During the last two
decades, according to officials in
Iraq’s Kurdistan region, the depths
of artesian wells required to reach
dwindling groundwater reservoirs
increased from 200 meters to as
much as 700 meters. 23
Sandstorms present another
threat to agriculture in southern
Iraq. They threaten fields and
farms by causing soil loss,
decreasing the soil fertility, and
removing organic matter. UN data
suggested that the frequency of
dust storms increased from
approximately 24 per year
between 1951-1990 to as many as
122 in 2013. 24 These numbers are
likely to increase three-fold within
the next decade as the underlying
of local communities that rely on
fishing, hunting birds, and animal
husbandry, especially raising water
buffalos. 22
In Ninewa, out of
6 million dunams
that rely on rain
for agriculture
and were farmed
in 2020, only
300,000 (five
percent) were
farmed in 2021.
causes persist. Over this past
spring and summer, sandstorms
had become a nearly weekly
weather event, causing
widespread disruptions to
transportation and economic
activities, and causing serious
breathing problems for residents
in Baghdad and other affected
cities.
Impact on public health
Climate change and poor water
management render water
supplies unpredictable in quantity
and lower in quality. As the
availability of clean water for
drinking and sanitation declines,
frequent outbreaks of dangerous
waterborne diseases, such as
cholera, become more likely,
placing the health of entire
communities at risk.
6
The downstream southern
provinces of Iraq, especially Basra,
have been especially vulnerable
to this kind of threat. Located at
the mouth of the Persian Gulf,
Basra is the last part in the journey
of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
as they join to form the Shatt al-
Arab waterway before emptying
into the gulf. By the time the rivers
reach Basra, much of their waters
have been depleted by agriculture,
industry, and evaporation. And the
quality is poor due to increased
salinity levels and the dumping of
polluted untreated wastewater
from human activities. The UN
estimates that almost three
quarters of industrial waste goes
straight into Iraq’s rivers without
treatment, and towns often dump
raw sewage into the rivers as well.
Studies have also shown that
medical facilities, especially major
hospitals in Baghdad, are another
source of dangerous pollutants,
including carcinogens, which are
dumped directly into the Tigris. 25
Water scarcity poses a particular
risk to Iraqi children. A UNICEF
report released in August 2021
warns that almost 60 percent of
Iraqi children are unable to get
water that is safe to use, and that
more than half of the country’s
schools don’t have water at all,
presenting risks to children’s
“health, nutrition, cognitive
development, and future
livelihoods.” 27
Impact on rural communities
and cities
As water scarcity grows more
intense, the loss of revenue due to
failed crops has increasingly
forced farmers to abandon their
land and seek jobs elsewhere in
nearby towns and cities. Climate
change also heavily impacts
fishermen and water buffalo
The low levels of water in the Shatt
al-Arab increase the concentration
of pollutants, and have repeatedly
resulted in salt water creeping up
from the gulf, threatening the
A UNICEF report
released in August
2021 warns that
almost 60 percent
of Iraqi children
are unable to get
water that is safe
to use, and that
more than half of
the country’s
schools don’t have
water at all,
owners whose livelihoods are
directly connected to the health of
the country’s rivers and marshes.
According to the
International Organization for
Migration (IOM), water scarcity in
southern Iraq forced about
20,000 people in 2019 alone to
abandon their farms and homes
and seek new opportunities
elsewhere. 28
Iraqi officials fear that the problem
will intensify rapidly over the
course of the decade, as Iraq
may be losing some 100 square
miles of farmland to the desert
each year, according to UN
estimates. Iraq’s Ministry for
Environment estimates that the
water crisis will displace up to
four million people before 2030.
These estimates point to an
impending displacement crisis
comparable to the exodus that
water supplies for millions of
people in and around Basra city.
Moreover, Basra’s infrastructure
never fully recovered from the
eight-year war with Iran in the
1980s that was fought primarily
near Basra. Consequently, the
people of Basra have been facing
chronic water shortages because
municipal water treatment
facilities are vastly ill-prepared to
provide sufficient quantities of safe
drinking water.
In 2018, the water situation took a
catastrophic turn. During that
year’s exceptionally dry and hot
summer, the water in Basra made
more than 100,000 people sick. 26
Even mere contact with the
polluted water, let alone ingestion,
caused cases of skin disease
among locals. That episode was
seen to have largely provoked the
deadly civil unrest that engulfed
the province later that year and
spread to several other provinces.
followed the occupation of a third
of Iraq by ISIS militants in the
summer of 2014. 29
One of the communities most
affected by climate change in
southern Iraq are the Marsh Arabs,
a semi-nomadic tribal people that
has depended on the marshes’
natural resources for some 5,000
years. The intentional destruction
of large parts of the ancient and
biodiverse wetlands by Saddam
Hussein in the 1990s was followed
by a partial recovery of water levels
after 2003. The slight improve-
ment in the years after water was
allowed to flow back into the
marshes is being rapidly reversed
by poor water management and
climate change. Since the middle
of the 20th century, the population
of Marsh Arabs has dropped from
nearly half a million to about
250,000.30
7
Meanwhile, cities are struggling to
cope with the rising demand for
basic services due to natural
population growth, the influx of
economic and climate driven
migrants, and the dilapidated
state of old infrastructure for
water, sanitation and electricity.
Cities are also becoming
increasingly harder to live in as
temperatures rise. Built-up urban
areas tend to be hotter than green
spaces because concrete and
buildings retain sun energy that
green areas would otherwise
reflect back into space.
In fact, climate change has
contributed to making Iraq one of
the hottest places on the planet.
Cities like Baghdad and Basra have
repeatedly shattered temperature
records, reaching as high as 129
degrees Fahrenheit and creating
life-threatening conditions. 31
Power shortages and high
electricity costs make air
conditioning a luxury that most
Iraq's southern marshes have become increasingly salinized due to diminishing fresh water since this photo was taken in 2003. (Image: U.S. Army)
can’t afford. Life shuts down for
hours during the daytime in the
summer months, which in Iraq can Cities like
stretch from late April to mid-
October. This at least in part
Baghdad and
explains why unrest and protests Basra have
tend to erupt more frequently
during the summer.
repeatedly
shattered
temperature
Government response, civil
society action, and records, reaching
opportunities as high as 129
Iraqi government institutions have
degrees
been slow to respond to climate Fahrenheit.
change, and in many cases, have
been altogether absent as the
intensity of rising temperatures
and reduced rainfall threatened In June 2021, Iraq, with UNDP
the health and livelihoods of the support, finalized a document
population. Without meaningful describing its Nationally
reforms, little can be expected to Determined Contributions (NDC)
change. There are, however, early to the Paris Agreement, which
signs of a new sense of urgency included a commitment to
within Iraq’s civil society, and to reducing its greenhouse gas
some extent its government, about emissions by 1-2 percent by the
the perils of climate change. end of the decade. 32 This move
8
was followed in November by Iraq
formally joining the 2015 Paris
Agreement. 33 In his address to
COP26, President Barham Salih
acknowledged that Iraq is one of
the most vulnerable places to
climate change and the threat it
poses to millions of Iraq’s people
and more than half of its arable
land. Salih endorsed the
Mesopotamia Revitalization Plan,
a framework for developing an
environmental strategy for Iraq
and its neighbors who face the
same threats. This initiative seeks
to modernize water management,
generate renewable energy, and
encourage green investments. 34
Overdue yet welcome action is
being taken on the pressing issue
of water scarcity. In December
2021, the Ministry of Water
Resources said it has developed a
strategic plan to cope with the
regional and global energy firms to
develop large-scale solar farms.
Government announcements
point to at least 5 separate deals
with companies from Saudi
Arabia, China, UAE, France, Norway
and Egypt to set up 10 solar power
projects with a generating
capacity of 5,525 megawatts. 36 In
June of 2021, Iraq’s oil minister said
Baghdad has a plan to generate up
to a quarter of the country’s
projected energy demand (roughly
10-12 gigawatts) from clean,
renewable sources. The country
also wants to encourage its
citizens to adopt residential solar
power. In July 2021, Iraq’s Central
Bank said it will launch a IQD 1
trillion initiative to encourage
homeowners and residential
complexes to install solar panels.
In recent years, civil society efforts
have emerged through groups like
Nature Iraq, Waterkeepers Iraq,
Humat Dijla, and Save the Tigris.
In June 2021, Iraq,
with UNDP support,
finalized a
document describing
its Nationally
Determined
Contributions (NDC)
to the Paris
Agreement, which
included a
commitment to
reducing its
greenhouse gas
emissions by 1-2
percent by the end
of the decade.
These groups have been actively
monitoring issues that threaten
the environment and Iraq’s rivers,
advocating action to address
them, and mobilizing volunteers to
carryout small projects. But there’s
potential for much more. Iraq has
one of the youngest populations in
the world. Nearly 60 percent of the
population is under 25 years old.
Many of those young people are
politically active and open to new
ideas. They are pressing for
government reforms on issues
ranging from the economy to
human rights. Far fewer are the
number of activists and civil
society groups who are publicly
taking action to address climate
change, and rarely do their efforts
receive the recognition they
deserve. There is also a gap
between government efforts,
which take place in their own
isolated silos, and what civil society
is doing.
growing deficit between water
needs and available volumes. The
plan, which identifies agriculture
as the “main consumer of water”
envisions measures that focus on
“modernizing and readjusting
irrigation projects and systems.”
The project must be implemented
to “save and rationalize large
amounts of water." This would be a
major endeavor, as the Ministry
expects it to cost up to $70 billion
over the next 15 years in order to
protect the land that Iraq currently
cultivates—financial requirements
that are far beyond what the
Ministry can afford. In 2021, Iraq’s
Water Resources and Agriculture
Ministries together received only
IQD 966 billion (approximately
$665 million). 35
Iraq has set a target to end all
flaring of natural gas by 2027, and
has signed multiple deals with
Iraq urgently needs
to pivot towards a
low carbon future.
Accelerating that
transformation
would not only help
mitigate climate
change and improve
the environmental
sustainability of
Iraq's economy, it
would also help
meet the growing
demands for greater
diversification and
job creation.
9
 At the same time that Iraq is
disproportionately contributing to
climate change, climate change
is having a devastating impact in
Iraq, from prolonged heat waves to
intense droughts. And yet, there is
an alarming lack of climate
awareness and action, not to
mention water conservation
efforts. That, however, can and
must change.
Iraq urgently needs to pivot
towards a low carbon future.
Accelerating that transformation
would not only help mitigate
climate change and improve the
environmental sustainability of
Iraq's economy, it would also help
meet the growing demands for
greater diversification and job
creation. Iraq is a signatory party to
the Paris Agreement and the EU,
UNDP, UNEP, USAID, and other
international organizations and
agencies are working with Iraqi
officials to accelerate the
implementation of the 2030
Sustainable Development Agenda,
particularly the environmental
Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). Iraqi activists and civil
society can play an important
role in supporting those efforts by
generating wider public awareness
and support, by pressing
for greater accountability from
public officials, and by cultivating
future champions to combat
climate change.

1 Iraq launches National Adaptation Plan process for climate change resilience, UNEP, September 20, 2020. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-
release/iraq-launches-national-adaptation-plan-process-climate-change

2 Loveluck, Louisa and Chris Mooney. Baghdad heat is world’s climate change future. The Washington Post, August 12, 2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/12/baghdad-iraq-heat-climate-change/

3
https://twitter.com/IraqClimate/status/1507965573065498627

4 Dhi-Qar mourns the death of Abu-Zarag Marsh as man and beast migrate. Shafaq News, March 28, 2022. https://bit.ly/3PhVYAd

5 Low water levels in Chibayish threaten 150,000 people. Rudaw, June 30, 2022. https://www.rudawarabia.net/arabic/kurdistan/300620225

6 Hofste, Rutger Willem, et al. 17 Countries, Home to One-Quarter of the World's Population, Face Extremely High Water Stress. World Resources Institute,
August 6, 2019. https://www.wri.org/insights/17-countries-home-one-quarter-worlds-population-face-extremely-high-water-stress

7 Solomon, Erika and Laura Pitel. Why water is a growing faultline between Turkey and Iraq. Financial Times, July 4, 2018.
https://www.ft.com/content/82ca2e3c-6369-11e8-90c2-9563a0613e56

8 Kullab, Samya and Rashid Yahya. Minister: Iraq to face severe shortages as river flows drop. The Associated Press (AP), July 17, 2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/minister-iraq-to-face-severe-shortages-as-river-flows-
drop/2020/07/17/7054535a-c842-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html

9 Iraq warns new Turkish dam is more dangerous than previous ones. NRT, August 11, 2020.
https://www.nrttv.com/AR/detail3/5415

10 Aldroubi, Mina. Iraq could have no rivers by 2040, government report warns. The National, December 2, 2021.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/iraq/2021/12/02/iraq-could-have-no-rivers-by-2040-government-report-warns/

11 Turkey’s ambassador: we did not cut or divert river flows. Baghdad is responsible for drought. Nas News, July 12, 2022.
https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=89809

12 Istepanian, Harry and Noam Raydan. How Iraq’s Race for Water Security Impacts Cultural Heritage and Environment. Iraq Energy Institute, May 5, 2021.
https://iraqenergy.org/2021/05/05/how-iraqs-race-for-water-security-impacts-cultural-heritage-and-environment/

13 Building More Dams Threatens Southern Iraq and Increases Drought and Worse Water Scarcity: No More False Solutions. The Tigris River Protectors Association,
April 15, 2022. https://humatdijlah.org/ar/statement-nomorefalsesolutions/

14 Jaradat, A. A. Evaluation of water demand and supply in the south of Iraq. Journal of Water Reuse and Desalination.
https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/50600000/Products-Reprints/2002/1107.pdf

15 Iraq eyes ending gas flaring by 2027, as it courts IOCs to capture associated output. S&P Global Platts, November 22, 2021.
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/natural-gas/112221-iraq-eyes-ending-gas-flaring-by-2027-as-it-courts-iocs-to-capture-
associated-output

16 Rathi, Akshat and Khalid Al Ansary. Large Methane Plume Detected Over Southern Iraq. Bloomberg, September 2, 2021.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-02/large-methane-plume-detected-over-southern-iraq

17 Amid ongoing conflict, Iraq to Begin Snuffing Out Flares. The World Bank, May 9, 2017.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/05/09/amid-ongoing-conflict-iraq-to-begin-snuffing-out-flares

18 Rubin, Alissa J. and Clifford Krauss. In Iraq, Burning Gas Poisons the Air. The New York Times, July 16, 2020.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/world/middleeast/iraq-gas-flaring-cancer-environment.html
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19 Ninewa loses 60 percent of its arable land and farmers resort to digging wells. Al-Mada, November 23, 2021.
https://almadapaper.net/view.php?cat=252598

20 Food Security In Iraq. WFP, FAO, IFAD, WB, October 3, 2021.

https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/food-security-iraq-impact-covid-19-special-section-water-shortages-and-adaptation

21 Trade Minister announces the amounts of harvested wheat and Iraq’s import needs. INA, June 30, 2022.
https://www.ina.iq/159776--.html

22 Loveluck, Louisa and Mustafa Salim. The Climate change in Iraq poisons Fertile Crescent farmland, empties villages. The Washington Post, October 21, 2021.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/iraq-climate-change-tigris-euphrates/

23 Kurdistan Agriculture Ministry: 300-400 million cubic meters wasted each year. Rudaw, July 6, 2022.
https://www.rudawarabia.net/arabic/kurdistan/060720222

24 Iraq’s perfect storm – a climate and environmental crisis amid the scars of war. ICRC, July 19, 2021.
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/iraqs-perfect-storm-climate-and-environmental-crisis-amid-scars-war

25 Tigris River Pollution in Baghdad City: Challenges and Recommendations. The Tigris River Protectors Association, February, 2018. https://bit.ly/36E9bm5

26 Basra is Thirsty: Iraq’s Failure to Manage the Water Crisis. Human Rights Watch, July 22, 2019.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/07/22/basra-thirsty/iraqs-failure-manage-water-crisis

27 Running Dry: the impact of water scarcity on children in the Middle East and north Africa. UNICEF, August, 2021.
https://www.unicef.org/mena/media/12871/file/RunningDry-WASH-FullReport.pdfpercent20.pdf

28 Climate-Induced Displacement – Central and Southern Iraq (Data collection period: 1 March - 15 March 2022), IOM, March 15, 2022.
https://notifier.in/item/0qm7qm8ujt3xt78kltzmzbiiw342ykk3/3614999.html

29 Trew, Bel. Iraq's disappearing Eden: Water shortages could force four million people to flee their homes, The Independent, October 8, 2018.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-water-shortage-unesco-garden-of-eden-bible-four-million-people-homes-latest-a8574781.html

30 McCarron, Leon. The Last Of The Marsh Arabs. NEOMA, October 19, 2021. https://www.noemamag.com/the-last-of-the-marsh-arabs/

31 Samenow, Jason. Two Middle East locations hit 129 degrees, hottest ever in Eastern Hemisphere, maybe the world. The Washington Post, July 22, 2016.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/07/22/two-middle-east-locations-hit-129-degrees-hottest-ever-in-eastern-hemisphere-
maybe-the-world/

32 Iraq reaffirms commitment to climate action under the Paris Agreement. UNDP, June 3, 2021.
https://www.iq.undp.org/content/iraq/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2021/06/iraq-reaffirms-commitment-to-climate-action-under-the-paris-agre.html

33 Iraq officially joins the Paris Agreement. Nas News, November 11, 2021. https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=73175

34 Government of Iraq, President Salih’s address to COP26. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=26473823122

35 EPIC’s analysis of Iraq’s 2021 federal budget, which can be found here: http://www.mof.gov.iq/pages/ar/federalbalanceforfiscalyear.aspx

36 Based on multiple deal announcements tracked by the Iraq Security and Humanitarian Monitor (ISHM) throughout 2021. ISHM is available and archived at
enablingpeace.org/ishm

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