Iraq wants to plant five million trees and palm trees to combat the country’s desertification caused by the climate crisis. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani presented a corresponding campaign today in the southern city of Basra. “Climate change is reflected in rising temperatures, reduced precipitation and increased dust storms and threatens food security, health and the environment,” he said.
Sudani spoke at the opening of a two-day climate conference attended by ambassadors and UN officials. In the spring of 2022, Iraq was hit by a dozen sand and dust storms, causing breathing difficulties for thousands of people. Schools and authorities had to temporarily close and air traffic was suspended.
“More than seven million citizens were affected, their regions suffered from drought, hundreds of thousands were displaced after losing their livelihoods dependent on agriculture and fishing,” Sudani said of the sandstorms, according to state news agencies. .
Not much is left of the “land of 30 million palm trees”
According to him, a conference in Baghdad and new irrigation and sustainable energy projects are planned for Iraq in the fight against global warming and its consequences. He gave no details about the projects, but set a target for Iraq to cover a third of its electricity needs with renewable energy from newly built power plants by 2030.
Not so long ago, lush palm trees protected cities like Baghdad and Karbala – Iraq was once known as the “land of 30 million palm trees”. But decades of conflict, mismanagement and ever new concrete settlements have withered the national symbol.
Today, 39% of Iraqi territory is affected by desertification. Furthermore, the water levels of the two largest rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, are alarmingly low. To protect against sandstorms and desertification, experts recommend, among other things, reforestation in the form of green belts, which serve as windbreaks for cities.