Amanj Harki, a member of the Iraqi parliament and head of the sub-committee of renewable energies in the Iraqi legislature said Iraq has taken part in the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN’s annual climate summit, with a negotiating team of 20 professionals trained to negotiate terms that will be important to Iraq in the next decade.
"Iraq's main focal point for the COP28 is mitigation... Another focal point for Iraq is going to be adaptation. Iraq will focus on these two terms, and will try to negotiate through these two mainly for the sectors of energy, renewable energy, for food and water," Harki said, noting that many of the crises Iraq is currently facing are closely related to these sectors.
Harki emphasized that Iraq’s goal at COP28 will be to “convince the UN or investor funds to invest more than 100 billion dollars annually in the energy sector of Iraq,” underlining that so far the country has only been able to move forward in the electricity sector.
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani all attended the COP28 conference which runs through December 12 and brings together world leaders, businesses, NGOs, and civil society activists.
This year is set to become the hottest year ever recorded, the United Nations said on Thursday, warning of the devastating repercussions and demanding immediate action to tackle climate change.
Iraq is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, including water and food insecurity, according to the UN. It is facing a severe water shortage because of reduced precipitation, higher temperatures, and waste and mismanagement.
Scorching temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius were recorded in Iraq this year, coupled with water scarcity, desertification, and reduced rainfall.
According to the UN, over 130,000 people in southern Iraq are prone to displacement by the end of 2023 due to the effects of climate change.
The UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) special representative in Iraq told Rudaw last month that Iraq is severely affected by the impacts of climate change, mainly due to a decrease in water levels, and that the UN is working to assist the Iraqi government to increase water flow into the country.
In December of last year, the World Bank estimated that Iraq needs around $233 billion worth of investments by 2040 to respond to the effects of climate change.
