Iraq's climate collapse: A nation at risk

Shafaq News

20 hours ago

2025-08-02T20:28:29+00:00
Shafaq News
Iraq, once anchored by its oil wealth, now faces a more urgent threat: climate collapse fueled by drought, disappearing rivers, and rapid desertification.
This escalating crisis is displacing communities, weakening institutions, straining national cohesion, and sending shockwaves through the region and global energy markets.
Agriculture Under Siege
The Ministry of Agriculture has banned summer rice cultivation due to critical water shortages, with advisor Mehdi Dhahir al-Qaisi explaining to Shafaq News that reduced inflows from Turkiye and Iran have made traditional crops like rice unsustainable.
To conserve water, the ministry is promoting sprinkler irrigation by offering 30% subsidies and interest-free loans, though only half of the 13,000 ordered systems have arrived and just 3,000 have reached farmers.
Water Restrictions and a Shrinking Economy
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Water Resources has capped agricultural land at one million dunams, prioritizing drinking water, orchards, livestock, and marshes. Deputy Director Ghazwan Abdul-Amir told our agency that enforcement is tightening, though illegal farming and water theft remain widespread.
With negotiations stalled with upstream countries, the United Nations warns Iraq could lose 20% of its remaining water supply by 2030. Economist Ahmed Eid cautioned that rising food imports are inflating prices and weakening the non-oil economy.
'Without a unified response, rural economies will collapse, fiscal strain will deepen, and Iraq's ability to absorb future shocks will erode,' he said.
Migration, Labor Losses, and Urban Strain
As agricultural land dries up, thousands are fleeing to overcrowded cities that lack the infrastructure to absorb them, with the World Bank projecting over 1 million climate-displaced Iraqis by 2050 without stronger adaptation policies.
The crisis is also crushing outdoor laborers like 23-year-old Hussein Sajjad, who told Shafaq News that he loses his income every time the temperature spikes.
With no labor protections or heat safety standards, Iraq could lose up to 4% of total working hours by 2030, according to the International Labour Organization—disproportionately affecting low-income and informal workers.
Experts Warn of Institutional Paralysis
Although the government has announced a national climate strategy, experts like Green Iraq Observatory's Omar Abdul-Latif caution that delayed implementation and insufficient funding have pushed the country deeper into a 'danger zone.'
'Iraq is not adapting to climate change but struggling to survive it,' Abdul-Latif argued. 'Institutional neglect is widening the gap between the scale of the crisis and the state's ability to respond.'
Written and edited by Shafaq News staff.