Water, Oil and Iraq’s Climate Future

Mar 29, 2023 | Zeinab Shuker
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For 40 years, the Iraqi state has lurched from crisis to crisis as wars and domestic conflicts have devastated the country’s infrastructure and institutions. 

Over the past two years, Iraq has experienced its driest seasons in decades, with temperatures frequently surpassing 120 degrees Fahrenheit. As temperatures continue to soar, water supplies decline, triggering one of the worst droughts in 40 years. Iraqi officials estimate that water reserves have decreased by half this year, due in part to changes in weather patterns but also to the action of neighboring countries, like Turkey, where several dam projects limit the water flowing from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

Since 2003, Iraq has faced several crises, but environmental conditions have often been deprioritized in favor of the country’s economic and political situation. Twenty years later, the country is in a more vulnerable position on its environmental front than perhaps any time before.