At the conclusion of his visit to Iraq, one of the countries most vulnerable to some effects of climate change, Mr. Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned on Wednesday that the escalating temperatures and drought in Iraq serve as a “warning” to the entire globe.
During his tour of Iraq, where temperatures reach close to 50°C amid severe drought, Türk visited the south of the country, where, as he described, “fields lie barren and are weighed down by the parched conditions.”
At the end of his 4-day visit, he commented, “The rise in temperatures, drought, and the loss of biodiversity, now an undeniable reality… it’s a warning to Iraq and the entire world. When we witness the conditions of these communities, we are indeed seeing our future.”
For the fourth consecutive year, Iraq, ranked by the United Nations as the fifth most affected by climate change globally, is grappling with a drought, attributed to decreased rainfall and elevated temperatures. However, authorities partly blame dams constructed by neighboring Turkey and Iran on the Tigris and Euphrates sources, causing a decline in the river levels that run through Iraq.
Last July, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that Iraq’s historic Marshlands in the south are experiencing “the most intense heatwave in 40 years,” noting a significant drop in water levels.
Türk echoed a phrase used by UN Secretary-General António Guterres last month, stating that “the world has entered the boiling age,” adding that “here (in Iraq), we live and witness it daily.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has prioritized combating climate change as one of his government’s “priorities”. However, environmental activists caution about a lack of significant action in this area. During a press conference in Baghdad on Wednesday, Türk expressed his concerns about “information indicating acts of violence, intimidation, and death threats” against these activists. Among them is Jassim Al-Asadi, an environmental activist involved in conserving the southern marshes, who was abducted by unknown individuals for two weeks last February.
