Iraq is moving towards new legislation to combat climate change

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[size=52]Iraq is moving towards new legislation to combat climate change[/size]

[size=45]Iraq faces economic, political and social problems as a result of the turmoil caused by the climate crisis that is hitting the country, as drought waves sweep its lands and temperatures rise to an unprecedented level.
More than 130,000 people have been forced to leave their homes and jobs in the south of the country over the past 7 years, which faces the risk of losing half of its water resources by 2030, according to national and international assessments, while governorates such as Basra are witnessing a worrying increase in the spread of cancer as a result of the disastrous effects of the oil industry.
Despite this, a shocking gap emerges between the size of the challenges and the country's legislative and legal system, which is limited to the Environmental Protection Law that was enacted in 2009, amid the interest of countries around the world in this type of challenge through a system of strict legislation, laws and educational materials.
Article 27 of the Iraqi Environmental Protection Law of 2009 stipulates “protecting and improving the environment by removing and treating existing or occurring damage to it, and preserving public health, natural resources, biodiversity, and cultural and natural heritage.” However, the law does not refer to any impact or damage resulting from climate change, despite Iraq experiencing a severe climate crisis that includes water scarcity, drought, desertification, rising temperatures, and forced migration and displacement.
The legislative and executive institutions have not taken any serious steps to update the Environmental Protection Law since its issuance in 2009, indicating a failure to address new environmental challenges through the lack of adequate response to crises that threaten the health of citizens and the sustainability of natural resources and biodiversity in the country.
The Environmental Protection and Improvement Law was passed in 2009, six years after the establishment of the Ministry of Environment, as part of the process of reorganizing and restructuring the government and its institutions after the fall of the former regime in 2003. The ministry was responsible for setting and implementing environmental policies and monitoring pollution, as it was considered a fledgling ministry with its cadres and employees who did not have sufficient environmental expertise and knowledge at that time. Environmental
issues were new to legislators and had not been addressed before. In addition to all of this, there was the specificity of the critical period between 2003 and 2009, when the country and society faced sectarian conflicts and dangerous security situations, not to mention the consequences of all of this on economic and living conditions.
Global efforts to combat climate change
Many countries around the world are working to develop and implement laws, legislation and treaties aimed at combating climate change and reducing the losses resulting from it. Among these efforts are international agreements such as the Paris Agreement, which was adopted by 190 countries in 2015 and aims to reduce emissions, the Kyoto Protocol, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Domestically, many countries are enacting laws and legislation to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The United States introduced the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to encourage green projects, while the United Kingdom introduced the Climate Change Act of 2008, the world’s first legally binding 80% reduction in emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels, and was recently updated to align with global carbon neutrality goals.
The European Climate Law, adopted in 2021, is considered one of the most successful global climate laws, as it obliges the European Union to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, with strict mechanisms to monitor and promote investments in renewable energy and clean energy.
Germany is also a global leader in enacting legislation aimed at protecting the environment and combating climate change, as it has managed to establish a comprehensive legal framework that includes more than 30 laws and regulations that regulate various aspects of environmental protection and dealing with climate change.
Where does Iraq stand in this global progress?
Regarding the best global practices that Iraq can adopt in developing climate legislation and the sectors most affected by the effects of climate change, agricultural and climate expert Khadija Al-Jaberi points out that “the agricultural sector is at the forefront of the sectors most affected by climate change, due to the variability of expected weather patterns for crop production.”
Al-Jaberi stressed that “the high temperatures and the decline in seasonal rainfall have caused the country’s agricultural area to shrink from 17 to 50%, followed by water resources, which are the second most affected, as water scarcity is a critical issue, especially in the southern regions, not to mention the damage to biodiversity in the region.”
Regarding combating the effects of global warming and the role of national laws regarding the crises resulting from it, she added that “the inclusion of climate change provisions in the Environmental Protection Law in Iraq enables capabilities to significantly enhance environmental sustainability by establishing a strong regulatory framework for mitigation efforts, enhancing adaptation strategies, improving institutional capacities, creating economic opportunities, and directly addressing existing challenges.”
By prioritizing these measures now, Iraq can work towards a more sustainable future that balances environmental safety with social and economic development.
In turn, water strategy and policy expert Ramadan Hamza points out “the importance of adhering to international agreements through active participation in climate agreements such as the Paris Agreement and those related to biodiversity, which enhances Iraq’s commitment to confronting climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Hamza stresses the role of local laws and the current environmental protection law in this context, as these laws can contribute to obligating institutions and society to combat the effects of climate change indirectly. He
explains that “implementing strict environmental laws at the local level can enhance efforts to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. These laws can include specific environmental standards for managing natural resources and development projects, in addition to imposing penalties or obligations on environmental violations, by enhancing compliance and referring to local laws.”
New climate legislation
For his part, Ibrahim Mahdi Al-Sudani, an academic and member of the Iraqi negotiating delegation that is always negotiating on issues related to climate change, tells the story of Iraq’s journey towards enacting new laws, saying, “At the beginning of the establishment of the Environmental Protection Law, Iraq did not have experts specializing in the field of environment and climate change, so we decided to draw on the experiences of surrounding countries such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia after reading their laws to develop a national law that mimics what existed at that time in the region.”
He points out that “the real work on climate in Iraq began after 2015, following the Paris Agreement, when Iraq began establishing what is known as the National Center for Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment, which began its first work in conjunction with the launch of the Paris Agreement, and work continued until the establishment of what is known as the Supreme National Committee for Climate Change in Iraq, which included most of the ministries in Iraq.”
After the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in 2020, it was agreed, according to Al-Sudani, to “make some updates to the law or legislate a new law that would provide the legal basis capable of addressing the crises resulting from climate change or to finance adaptation and mitigation projects to reduce emissions, as these attempts resulted in the formation of a specialized committee of legal experts, some departments, and the Climate Change Directorate, whose goal is to develop a vision to amend the current environmental law, under the supervision of the Minister of Environment, Engineer Nizar Amidi.”
Al-Sudani points out that the updates will include more than 50% of the current law, meaning that it will become a new law, and we are now waiting for the draft of the new law to be put to a vote in Parliament during the next year,” noting that “the law includes the legislation of the Carbon Economics Company, which is an executive company or executive arm to cover areas with environmental improvement and issues of carbon credit trading and emission reduction and other projects that can be a tributary to the Ministry of Environment.”
For his part, consulting lawyer Hussam Raad Al-Bahadli points out that “it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Article 27 of the Environmental Protection Law of 2009 to determine its adequacy in addressing contemporary climate challenges at first, but it requires examining the current secondary texts and reviewing the objectives of the law to ensure that it includes the necessary measures to combat climate change and use renewable energy.”
Al-Bahadli adds that “Iraqi law has become more flexible than before and accepts new legislation, but the problem of the government’s acceptance of the law and the extent of its impact on the economic and social level comes, as countries cannot issue a law that would harm society or the international economy.”
Crossroads
For his part, the Executive Director of the Iraqi Green Observatory, Omar Abdul Latif, says, “In the absence of decisive climate legislation, Iraq stands on the brink of an environmental disaster that is merciless and incurable, as desertification is devouring our lands, the water crisis is strangling agriculture, and drought is destroying the hopes of farmers and villagers, forcing them to leave their dilapidated villages for cities overcrowded with displaced people.”
“With rising temperatures and polluted air, diseases are spreading like wildfire, burdening an already struggling health system,” Abdul Latif added. “The Iraqi economy is beginning to erode due to climate change and is incurring unbearable losses. The effects of climate change may throw more Iraqis into poverty and unemployment.”
The environmental activist concludes his speech by pointing out that “Iraq stands at a critical crossroads; either it moves quickly to adopt strict climate legislation that will rescue it from this dark fate, or it will sink into an endless cycle of intertwined crises that will stifle all hope for the future.[/size]
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