World Bank: Environmental pollution resulting from wars cost Iraq $3 billion

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[size=52]World Bank: Environmental pollution resulting from wars cost Iraq $3 billion[/size]

[size=45]Translated by / Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]In an extensive report issued by the World Bank, the losses and damages inflicted on the oil, agricultural and industrial sectors as a result of successive wars in Iraq were estimated at approximately 3.5 trillion Iraqi dinars (equivalent to 3 billion dollars), with 47% of the country’s natural forest areas destroyed and 2.4 million hectares of land polluted. arable land with mines, which prevents its easy exploitation, indicating that this requires developing a national program to treat contaminated sites in the country over a period of five years at an estimated cost of 422 million dollars.[/size]
[size=45]The report, which was published under the title (Areas polluted as a result of wars in Iraq: Treatments for land pollution to restore life in it), included conducting analyzes on the extent of pollution and its importance in specific areas exposed to war damage in Baghdad, Anbar, Babylon, Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salah al-Din governorates, recommending defining a map. A path to essential elements of the program to treat and manage environmentally polluted hot areas in Iraq, while setting special standards for land reclamation and establishing a mechanism to support and finance these activities by the government and supporting civil organizations.[/size]
[size=45]The report indicates that successive wars witnessed by Iraq were distinguished by their targeting of causing damage to the country's oil and industrial properties. This not only caused economic losses, but also caused pollution in the air, land, soil and water on a very large scale that has never been seen before. Estimates of damages and needs included in the World Bank’s 2018 report estimate the damage to environmental resources resulting from several wars and battles at an amount of 85 billion Iraqi dinars (equivalent to 73 million dollars), with losses in various sectors estimated at 3.5 trillion Iraqi dinars (equivalent to 3 trillion Iraqi dinars). Billion dollar).[/size]
[size=45]The World Bank also states in its report that damage and needs assessment analyzes estimate that 47% of the country's natural forests may have been destroyed, while 2.4 million hectares of agricultural land were transformed into unusable lands as a result of contamination with mines, and that about 10,569 At least a hectare of land has been lost to pollution, carbon residues and other chemicals. However, the true extent of land pollution caused by wars has not yet been confirmed.[/size]
[size=45]The World Bank warns that without any intervention to address these problems, land pollution is expected to have long-term consequences and effects on the safety, health, and livelihood of population groups, with severe consequences for the affected groups of society who continue to reside in these polluted sites for agricultural purposes. Animal care and other local activities. Analyzes of estimates of damages and needs estimate the number of these population groups exposed to the consequences of pollution at approximately three million internally displaced people, including women and families headed by women, children and youth.[/size]
[size=45]The World Bank also indicated that other generations are likely to suffer from the economic and environmental impacts of these contaminated areas and sites unless they are identified, addressed, or managed properly and appropriately as part of the broader Iraqi reconstruction program, stressing that creating better environmental conditions and investments in capital Human and financial resources are vital for economic diversification and creating job opportunities with healthy populations that are the basis for stable and sustainable development for post-war Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]The report added that in addition to the polluted areas in the governorates included in the report in central and northern Iraq, there are some other polluted areas in the south of the country. This also concerns lands contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war.[/size]
[size=45]Regarding the evaluation of lands contaminated with chemicals, this matter requires taking detailed samples and conducting extensive investigations through them, as samples were collected from the water and soil of the aforementioned contaminated areas to verify the extent of pollution rates of petroleum carbonates, polluted dust, and other toxic substances in them, as these activities require the use of Advanced equipment specialized in this field, such as a chromatographic device, a plasma examination device, and X-ray devices, which are limited in Iraq, as well as other digital equipment and devices to collect and analyze information.[/size]
[size=45]Based on the information collected and the knowledge obtained until 2021, the Ministry of Environment’s detection teams were able to verify 216 sites and identified 76 suspected polluted areas in different parts of Iraq. Of these sites, there are 51 places with an oil pollution rate of 67.1. % and 23 sites where the percentage of chemical pollution is 30.26%, and there are two sites where the percentage of pollution resulting from throwing waste is 2.63%.[/size]
[size=45]According to the geographical distribution of these polluted areas, 36.84% of them, with 28 sites, are located in Kirkuk Governorate. 22.37% of them are 17 sites located in Nineveh Governorate. 19.73% of them are 15 sites located in Salah al-Din Governorate. The World Bank notes that the issue of contaminated areas includes only the seven governorates that were subjected to battles in Iraq, and this means that the other 12 governorates in Iraq, which contain industrial activities and the treatment of industrial and other oil waste, are certain to contain sites suffering from pollution, and this is what was presented during the sessions. Training for Ministry of Environment cadres, which took place in October 2022, focused on identifying suspected polluted areas and taking samples from them using spatial equipment. The analyzes that were conducted showed that approximately 1 million 333 thousand and 3 hectares of land were exposed to pollution, which in turn affected more than 1 million 750 thousand people, or the equivalent of 8.55% of the population of those governorates.[/size]
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