Beirut, 28 July 2022 – The Republic of Iraq is considered one of the most vulnerable countries in the Arab region to the impacts of climate change. Recent years have witnessed a higher frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, drought, sand and dust storms, leading to rising environmental degradation and socio-economic impacts throughout the country.
With the aim to assist Iraq in its planning for climate change adaptation, the UN Environment Programme Regional Office for West Asia has concluded a 3-day capacity building workshop on climate change modelling and climate risk assessment that brought together representatives from the Iraqi government from Ministry of Environment including technical teams from the Climate Change Center and Climate Modelling Unit that was recently established to serve as hub to access to data and information and enhance and strengthen Iraq’s capacity to generate, analyse and disseminate climate information and climate research.
Held at the UN House in Beirut from 26 to 28 July, this workshop is a part of the Iraq National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Readiness project funded by Green Climate Fund (GCF), that aims to strengthen institutional capacity to support decision-makers with climatic projections, scenarios, risk assessment and data. This will further enable institutions and decision-makers to integrate medium to long-term adaptation actions into national development planning in Iraq.
“UNEP Regional Office for West Asia has been working with the government of Iraq to strengthen institutional, technical, and financial capacities and assess and bridge existing gaps in climate knowledge in Iraq”, said Mr. Sami Dimassi, UNEP Representative and Regional director for West Asia. “Our technical support intends to assist Iraq in the formulation and implementation of the NAP process that is multi-sectoral and integrate climate change into its national decision making”, he added.
The workshop introduced the methodologies used for the modelling using the downscaling technique zooming into Iraq, scenario analysis and climate risk assessments. “The Iraq NAP project supported by UNEP has helped advancing the institutional capacity of the relevant teams engaged in the NAP process in Iraq”, said Mr. Issa Al-Faiyadh, Director General at the Ministry of Environment. “This technical workshop will support national efforts that focus on increasing Iraq's adaptive capacity, increasing the resilience of affected sectors, increasing the awareness and preparedness of rural communities, supporting youth and women, and achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals” said Sahar Hussein, NAP Technical Manager from the Ministry of Environment.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the UN Environment Programme (UNEP):
The UN Environment Programme is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
About the UN Environment West Asia Office
UN Environment Programme's West Asia Office supports healthy ecosystems, clean air and water, sustainable consumption and production, and productive land for resilient and sustainable development. The Regional office serves twelve countries of the region, namely Kingdom of Bahrain, Republic of Iraq, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, State of Kuwait, Republic of Lebanon, Sultanate of Oman, State of Palestine, State of Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, Republic of Yemen.
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