President Salih: The climate crisis poses an existential threat to our future

 
Baghdad-INA
 
President of the Republic, Barham Salih, stressed today, Wednesday, that the climate crisis poses an existential threat to the future of Iraq.
 
President Saleh lauded in a tweet, followed by The Iraqi News Agency (Ina), "The approval of the Council of Ministers on Mesopotamian Revitalization Initiative submitted by the President of the Republic for adapting Green Strategy to mitigate effects of climate change on Iraq and the region environment and economy."
 
"The climate crisis is an existential threat to our future, it is necessary to start now, and there is no room for inaction," he added, noting that "the population is likely to double from 40 million to 80 million by 2050."
 
Salih  indicated, "Desertification affects 39% of the area of Iraq, and 54% of the lands are at risk of agricultural loss due to salinization and water scarcity in the Tigris and Euphrates (the lifeblood of our country), which led to the advance of salt tide towards Shatt al-Arab."
 
Salih also affirmed that Iraq is classified as the 5th most vulnerable nation in the world because of water and food shortages and extreme temperatures, pointing out that our water deficit will be 10.8 billion cubic meters by 2035 while our income will decrease as the world converts from oil to sustainable energy.
The revitalization of Mesopotamia is vital for Iraq and the region, brings us together to face shared climate change challenges, as it includes reforestation, modernization of water management, sustainable energy & CO2 reduction encourages the private sector to take lead, Salih confirmed.
 
 
 
President Salih also added that “The region must come together to pursue sustainable development based on economic integration & combating Climate Change. The status quo is truly untenable, we need to move the region towards environmentally sound economic cooperation & integration, away from conflict”.