Iraq’s Climate Change Response: The Private Sector and Civil Society

Mar 29, 2022 | Maha Yassin
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In recent years, Iraq has been severely affected by climate change, with heat waves of above 50˚ C increasing in regularity. Climate change has had devastating effects on water and food security, jeopardizing the livelihoods of Iraqis.

In 2021, the Iraqi Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources imposed some regulations to decrease the available land that farmers can use to cultivate wheat and barley by 50% because of severe water shortages. In 2018, cultivation of rice and other vital crops had been halted. To mitigate the impact on the livelihood of farmers, the government offers financial compensation—which has not been enough to stop smallholder farmers from demanding a sustainable intervention.

Iraq’s private sector has played an important role, establishing various best practices regarding land restoration and the utilization of smart irrigation systems that may have positive impacts for water and food security. This has particularly been the case in the middle and southern parts of the country. Over recent years, local environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Humat Dijlah, have been collaborating with international institutions on implementing short-term water and agricultural projects.

Since ratifying the Paris Agreement in 2021, the outgoing Iraqi government has been making some progress towards stepping up its response to the impacts of climate change, through new adaptations and mitigations strategies. One motivation has been the country’s desire to access climate finance from the Green Climate Fund which is linked to meeting the conditions set forth by the Paris Agreement.