Washington confirms its readiness to work jointly with Baghdad to confront climate change

US Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry affirmed today, Thursday, Washington's readiness to work jointly with Baghdad to confront climate change.

The Ministry of Water Resources stated, in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the Minister of Water Resources, Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani, held a meeting with the US presidential envoy for climate, Mr. John Kerry, via closed-circuit television, discusses the impact of climate changes on the region in general and Iraq in particular.".

Al-Hamdani provided, according to the statement, "a detailed explanation of the reality of water resources in Iraq and the challenges facing the water resources sector in light of the decreasing water imports due to high temperatures and projects implemented by upstream countries on the Tigris and Euphrates basins," explaining "the ministry's directions to adopt irrigation techniques." Modern implementation of irrigation projects using closed irrigation instead of open irrigation to ensure the optimal use of water resources.

For his part, Kerry affirmed, "The United States welcomes Iraq as a partner that I join with a group of countries to contribute to reducing emissions that lead to an increase in pollutants in the atmosphere such as carbon and methane, which came during Iraq's participation in the Glasgow Climate Conference, which was held in the United Kingdom recently." "The importance of the riparian countries joining forces with Iraq to confront climate changes, reduce their negative effects, share burdens and responsibilities to confront crises and ensure the sustainability of countries and the well-being of peoples, stressing the importance of adopting modern irrigation technologies and the possibility of using alternative energies to desalinate water instead of traditional."