In the joint report covering Iraq, Syria and Yemen, the two organizations called for additional aid, saying the combined effects of climate change and armed conflict are aggravating humanitarian problems in this region.
As of January 2022, the Climate Funds database, which collects information from 27 funds, listed only 19 projects in Iraq, Syria and Yemen that had been approved for funding.
She said the total amount spent so far on these projects in the three countries is only $20.6 million, less than 0.5% of the funds that have been spent on projects related to the fight against climate change in the world.
“Climate finance almost completely excludes the most fragile and unstable places,” said Ann Bergh, secretary general of the Norwegian Red Cross. “It is clear from a humanitarian point of view that this situation must change.”
In the midst of a civil war that has lasted eight years, Yemen is ranked among the countries most affected by the climate.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said: “It is not uncommon in Yemen for people to flee their homes in search of safety from conflict and then leave…because agriculture is not possible”, due to drought and water scarcity. .
The UN ranks Iraq, which is still recovering from decades of conflict, among the countries in the world most affected by climate change. Syria is also increasingly under threat after more than a decade of war that has devastated the country’s infrastructure.
“Death, injury and destruction are the devastating and well-known effects of armed conflict,” said ICRC regional director Fabrizio Carboni.
“However, what many overlook are the challenges that people have to endure and overcome due to the simultaneous disastrous effects of conflict, climate change and environmental degradation,” he added.
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