In the World’ to Climate Change

In southern Iraq, putrid water gushes out of waste pipes into marshes reputed to be home to the biblical Garden of Eden, threatening an already fragile world heritage site.

In a country where the state lacks the capacity to guarantee basic services, 70 percent of Iraq’s industrial waste is dumped directly into rivers or the sea, according to data compiled by the United Nations and academics.

Jassim al-Asadi, head of non-governmental organisation Nature Iraq, told AFP news agency the black wastewater poured into the UNESCO-listed marshes carries “pollution and heavy metals that directly threaten the flora and fauna” present there.

Once an engineer at Iraq’s water resources ministry, al-Asadi left that job to dedicate himself to saving the extraordinary natural habitat, which had previously faced destruction at the hands of former dictator Saddam Hussein and is further jeopardised by climate change.

The pollutants also “indirectly impact humans via the buffalo”, fixtures of the marshes and known for the “guemar” cheese produced from their milk, he said.

According to Nader Mohssen, a fisherman and farmer born in the marshland’s Chibayish district, “the buffalo are forced to go several kilometres into the marshes to be able to drink something other than polluted water”.

And “around the sewerage pipes, most of the fish die”, he added, gesturing to dozens of rotting fish floating on the marsh water surface.

Pollution is only the latest threat to one of the world’s largest inland delta systems.

The rich ecosystem, nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, barely survived the wrath of Hussein, who ordered the marsh be drained in 1991 as punishment for communities protecting rebel fighters.

The drainage reduced the marshland by half of its 1991 area of 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 square miles).

A former regime official was condemned to death in 2010 for what the UN called “one of the worst environmental crimes in history”, although he reportedly died of natural causes in prison last year.

A few years ago, Mohssen and other marshland residents – several thousand families straddling three provinces in the rural, tribal south and struggling to make ends meet – believed they would see their home flourish again.

Once the canals and earthen dykes built by Hussein’s regime were destroyed, the water returned, and with it more than 200 species of birds and dozens of types of wildlife, some on the verge of extinction elsewhere.

Tourists too – mainly Iraqis – began flocking to the region again to take boat tours and lunch on grilled fish.

But today, the overwhelming stench emanating from the wastewater pipes keeps people away.

Local authorities say residents are at fault for making illegal connections to the rainwater drainage systems because they are not connected to the sewerage system, while the federal government does not provide the necessary funds to the provincial council to build wastewater treatment plants. Dozens of rotting fish float on the surface of polluted marshes in Chibayish.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warned in 2019 that "climate change in Iraq is expected to reduce annual rainfall, which will lead to a surge in dust storms, a reduction in agricultural productivity and increased water scarcity"

UN classifies Iraq "as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world" to climate change. The rehabilitation of the marshes is no longer a question of heritage preservation, but one of survival. The marshland, reputed to be the home of the biblical Garden of Eden, previously faced destruction at the hands of Saddam Hussein and is now jeopardised by poor wastewater management and climate change. In 2015, every Iraqi had 2,100 cubic metres of water available per year, UNEP says, adding that by 2025, this figure will have fallen to 1,750, threatening the long-term stability of agriculture and industry in the country, as well as endangering the health of its 40 million people.

Europe is seeking a faster roll-out of innovative projects across several countries that will help the region’s fight against climate change and accelerate the digital transformation.

The European Union’s regulatory arm is considering tools to boost cross-border initiatives in areas such as hydrogen, sustainable transport, 5G corridors and blockchain, according to a draft industrial strategy seen by Bloomberg News. Plans to join forces under the EU economic recovery package have already been signaled by a number of member states, the European Commission said in the document, due to be published on Wednesday.

“The Commission is assessing options for an effective mechanism to accelerate the implementation of such multi-country projects, enabling notably possible combination of Member States and EU financing,” it said. “The enforcement of competition rules, in particular state aid rules, will ensure that public funds for the recovery do not replace but trigger additional private investments.”

The EU has made green and digital the two pillars of its recovery plan, aiming to strengthen its leadership in the global fight against climate change, boost innovation and reduce dependence on imports of critical materials.

The bloc can help expedite big cross-border projects by simplifying permitting procedures, aiding research and help drive private investment. Under its flagship multi-country battery project, more than a dozen countries were given the green light to give at least 6.1 billion euros ($7.35 billion) in public aid to companies from Tesla Inc. to Bayerische Motoren Werke AG.

The draft for the revised industrial strategy also envisages the following steps to accelerate the green shift in the coming months:

1.Renewed strategy on sustainable finance and a draft law on sustainable corporate governance.

2.Proposal to impose a carbon price on imports of emissions-intensive goods through the co-called Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

3.Proposal on European approach to Carbon Contracts for Difference as part of a planned revision of the EU Emissions Trading System.

4.Measures to support the uptake of corporate renewable Power Purchase Agreements.