Iraq’s Waning Water Resources in 2021

Dec 15, 2021 | Wim Zwijnenburg
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The summer of 2021 witnessed how water security is at the core of the debate on the climate crisis in Iraq. Current estimates by the government is that over 50 % of all crops were lost. The country suffers from decades of conflict that damaged environmental infrastructure and where collapse of environmental governance worsened existing problems around managing water sources,  where in particular water harvesting  is key for irrigations.

These compounding impacts are turning the country into a climate security hotspot, with long-term implications on socio-economic, humanitarian and ecological conditions. Iraqi citizens expressed concerns on social media by sharing photos of lakes and rivers running dry, and taking protests to the streets over water shortages. Their participation and input is elementary in any meaningful analysis and decision making when building an environment, peace and security strategy for the country’s future.