Director of the Environmental Department in southern Iraq Walid Hamid said May 21 that “Ministry of Health statistics indicate that 2,000 cases of cancer are recorded annually due to oil flares that release toxic gases into the air as a result of extraction operations in the Basra fields.” He criticized oil companies for their disregard […]
As the so-called Islamic State lost control over the areas it once occupied, it left behind a toxic legacy. The initial findings of a scoping mission undertaken by UN Environment Programme’s Conflict and Disasters branch found a trail of localized pollution that could have acute and chronic consequences for Iraq – and not just for […]
To meet climate targets and avoid economic collapse, countries such as Iraq need international support in the transition to clean energy, Ali Allawi and Fatih Birol state in the article for The Guardian. Ali Allawi is deputy prime minister and finance minister of Iraq. Fatih Birol is the executive director of the International Energy Agency. […]
The war in Syria has been ferocious and deadly. In 2016, the death toll was estimated at 400,000. In Iraq, the fight against the Islamic State (IS) has destroyed cities and displaced around 3.3 million people. Yet beyond the immediate consequences of these conflicts, the environmental degradation in both countries could have a far-reaching impact. […]
In order to find solutions to the chaos in Baghdad due to overpopulation, the Iraqi government plans to launch a new city next to the capital, Al-Monitor reports. The Iraqi Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced last week the start of work to build a new administrative city on the outskirts […]
Springs and wells are drying up across Iraqi Sulaimani province. Locals say it’s a disaster unlike anything they’ve seen before, Rudaw reports. “I was born in 1952. I have never seen this springhead in this way. I have always been here, except during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war,” said Fatih Salim, who owns […]
Iraq’s fields and orchards are drying up. Mismanagement of water resources has left the country’s environment vulnerable to climate change, the deputy minister for the environment told Rudaw, resulting in fragile food and national security, Rudaw states. “Diyala used to be a food basket for all Iraq, from fruits to dates. Baqubah is famous for […]
In the shadow of a three-walled cinder block shack housing a generator in Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan), Ghazi Rasheed’s phone won’t stop lighting up. He fields calls from distraught and angry customers – “What happened? Why is my house dark?” – while frantically workinonto getting the generator up and running, sending electricity to his neighborhood when […]
Accumulating trash and pollution in the city of Kirkuk has raised concerns about the impact on local residents’ health. “The smoke from oil refineries and private companies has mixed with Kirkuk’s air,” Shkova Muhammad, member of the high council of the Green Kurdistan Association, told Rudaw on August 20. “You can see trash on every […]
An Iraqi delegation will visit Turkey early next month as water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have decreased by more than 50%, a spokesperson for Iraq’s water ministry told state media on August 22. “This year is a water-scarce one, and there is a clear decrease in water levels in the Tigris and […]
