Experts warn of Iraq’s bleak environmental outlook, but Mosul shows green shoots

Iraq will experience full-blown environmental degradation unless action is taken to tackle climate change, government officials and experts said yesterday.

The Ministry of Environment said Iraq ranks fifth on the list of countries most vulnerable to global warming.

The country’s 40 million people are already facing an array of environmental challenges, including water scarcity, heatwaves and dust storms. Last week, one person died and thousands were admitted to hospital with respiratory problems caused by the dust.

Experts gathered in the northern city of Mosul, in Nineveh province, for the one-day Climate Change International Forum at the Grand Theatre of the University of Mosul.

Climate challenges “limit the capabilities to fight poverty, to enhance livelihoods and to temper conflicts over natural resources”, Mohammed Al Allaf, dean of the College of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Mosul, told the forum. “By now, all have realised that protecting natural resources is essential to protect the environment,” Dr Al Allaf said. “Everyone will lose with any environmental collapse.”

Abandoning outdated agricultural methods and preserving the country’s vegetation cover are top priorities, he said.

Trees once covered more than 60 per cent of Iraq’s land but this had dropped to less than 4 per cent.

“This a great catastrophe for us,” Dr Al Allaf said.

One dunam – 1,000 square metres – of forest can absorb 140 kilograms of carbon dioxide and three to five tonnes of dust each year, he said. Planting millions of dunams of forest is, therefore, urgently needed to reduce carbon emissions and cut pollution. “Vegetation is not only a friend to the environment but also the cornerstone in the efforts to protect it,” he said.

Another pressing problem addressed was water scarcity. About 90 per cent of the water feeding Iraq’s two main rivers – the Tigris and Euphrates – flows from Turkey and Iran.

These countries have built dams and diverted water away.

For decades, Iraq has failed to reach agreements with either country on how to ensure a fair division of the water supply. Ankara and Tehran say Iraq practises outdated irrigation methods. Mosul is still recovering from the three-year reign of ISIS and the war that drove out the Islamist extremists in 2017.

Despite the challenges it still faces, Mosul has set an example for other Iraqi cities.

Last year, the non-governmental group Mosul Eye launched a drive to plant trees in and around the city, including a forest inside Mosul itself. More than 9,000 trees have been planted so far.

Nineveh authorities planted 21,000 trees last year – restoring famous forests damaged in the fighting. More than 3,000 trees have been planted this year.

Trees once covered more than 60 per cent of Iraq’s land but this has dropped to less than 4 per cent