Atlantic Research Council: Reducing gas flaring and pollution is crucial to Iraq's prosperity

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[size=52]Atlantic Research Council: Reducing gas flaring and pollution is crucial to Iraq's prosperity[/size]

[size=45]Translated by / Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]Energy experts and other participants in a symposium organized by the Atlantic Council for International Research and Studies in Washington pointed out that severe droughts, pollution, and carbon emissions resulting from burning gas have hindered municipal services with other health consequences in Iraq, stressing that increased focus on achieving sustainable oil and gas production and generation Energy with natural gas and reducing its burning in oil wells will have a significant positive impact in the coming years.[/size]
[size=45]Majeed Jaafar, Executive Director of the UAE Crescent Petroleum Company, said during the session of the Iraqi Initiative Conference of the Atlantic Council at its second session held in Washington that the worsening pollution situation in Iraq and carbon emissions have a major impact on the country, but with the increasing government interest in harnessing natural gas resources. For the country and using it more efficiently, this promises to improve the situation significantly.[/size]
[size=45]The CEO of Al Hilal Company, which signed three contracts with Iraq to develop three oil and gas fields in the country, which were activated in the middle of last month, added that the private sector, in contributing with the government, will play an important role in encouraging a culture of continuity in their economic activities and achieving effective change.[/size]
[size=45]The participants in the Atlantic Council symposium, which was held under the title (Balancing International Participation and Domestic Growth: The Future of Iraq in a Scene Calling for Development), which called for highlighting Iraq’s efforts to confront and address environmental challenges and find ways to solve them, stated that it is now possible to notice positive changes occurring in Iraq with its efforts. To develop natural gas resources to replace petroleum fuels and diesel currently used in electric power generation plants, in addition to efforts to collect and process associated gas issued from oil production operations in the fields and reduce its burning rates.[/size]
[size=45]Addressing the audience, Executive Director Jaafar said, “Iraq faces the global challenge of the consequences of climate change, but in addition to that, it faces a number of specific local problems, including water scarcity and the problem of pollution in the air, land, and water, which must be followed up and solved.”[/size]
[size=45]He went on to say, “We are very optimistic to see the government of Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, dealing with the issue of natural gas as a priority, especially with regard to electric power generation, economic growth and development.”[/size]
[size=45]The session, organized by the Atlantic Council, witnessed the presence of the former Iraqi ambassador to Washington, Farid Yassin, who currently serves as the Republic of Iraq’s climate envoy, as well as the professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor Al-Fatih Al-Tahir, as well as the former Iraqi Minister of the Environment, Mishkat Al-Mumen. The panel of discussants discussed strategies to mitigate the effects of high temperatures and find solutions for them, as well as the scarcity of water resources and extreme weather incidents that threaten the country’s economic production, and the problems of electrical power equipment and food security resulting from the displacement of farmers due to climate change, as well as the damage to natural heritage. And culturally, the marshes region witnessed due to drought.[/size]
[size=45]Ambassador Fareed Yassin highlighted that Iraq has a renewed focus on addressing climate change problems and will be a guest at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP28, which will be held in Dubai, expressing his commitment to this pledge. The participants in the symposium welcomed the UAE’s initiative to host the COP 28 International Action Forum on Climate Change, which will be an important opportunity for Iraq and other regional countries to enhance cooperation and achieve progress in procedures and ways to address climate change.[/size]
[size=45]Participants in the symposium pointed out that most environmental improvement measures can be achieved through partnership between the private and public sectors. The CEO of Al Hilal stressed that it is necessary to address and manage all these challenges, and the focus must be on building institutional capabilities to achieve this. The private sector has a mission in this matter by bringing the best international processors and instilling a culture of health, safety and environmental awareness as well. Then the government must review and revise the laws related to these matters and activate them.[/size]
[size=45]• About the Atlantic Research Council[/size]
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