(Beirut) – Iraq’s environmental activists are facing threats, harassment, and arbitrary detention by government officials and armed groups, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 16, 2023, leading Iraqi environmentalist Jassim al-Asadi was released after being abducted on February 1 by an unidentified armed group and held for more than two weeks. Al-Asadi said in a TV in
Read MoreClimate Change Inaction Threatens Iraq’s Social Stability and Long-Term Economic Development Prospects Baghdad, Nov 9, 2022 – Climate change, in particular increasing water scarcity, could further threaten Iraq’s fragile social contract under an oil-led growth model that has been a source of economic volatility. According to the new World Bank Group’s Country Climate and Dev
Read MoreThe global target for climate warming has been set, this paper briefly discusses what caused global warming, gives samples of its major impacts, and how the world’s nations are dealing with them. The year 2019, is the year I became interested in environmental problems, and it is the year when COVID-19 broke out. For a moment, I thought the two problems were alike; they were
Read MoreHaifa Zangana A dust storm that covered seven Iraqi governorates, including Baghdad, caused more than 5,000 cases of suffocation and the death of one person. Social media sites circulated astonishing pictures of the red dust that enveloped the atmosphere, people and places for the seventh time in a month. The pictures were accompanied by analyses and theories, combining scie
Read MoreExecutive Summary: In addition to the many challenges facing Iraq now, desertification is yet another formidable challenge that needs immediate attention. The seemingly unstoppable desert expansion is creeping up and taking over the fertile lands in Iraq in unprecedented speed! It is manifested in a dramatic shrinking of green cover and the losses of millions of trees an
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