UN Report Details Environmental Degradation in West Bank and Gaza

Jun 8, 2020 | Doug Weir
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This is not the first time that UNEP has undertaken an assessment of environmental conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Studies in 2003, 2005 and 2009 had already documented environmental degradation linked to the occupation, and to recurring periods of hostilities. Each made a number of recommendations but as the new report notes, there have been few signs of improvement, and in most cases degradation and its drivers have continued to intensify.

The latest report has its origins in 2016, when a resolution calling for an assessment was tabled by Morocco and the Arab Group at the second UN Environment Assembly. The resolution proved highly controversial, and led to chaotic scenes in the Assembly’s closing plenary after Israel broke with its consensus model by calling for a vote. The resolution fell. Now published four years later, this report represents a compromise between the parties involved. Some of this delay has been down to prolonged negotiations with Israel over access.

In a sign of its continued sensitivity, neither @UNEP or @UNEP_WestAsia tweeted about its publication last month, and there is little evidence of media attention for its findings. The full 186-page State of Environment and Outlook Report for the occupied Palestinian territory 2020 is available here. Some of its findings are summarised below.