Iraqi parliamentary committee pushes for park expansions, aiming to improve air quality and combat climate change

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Parliamentary Services Committee announced on Thursday that it is continuing efforts to expand green spaces by converting open land into parks, with the aim of improving air quality and reducing temperatures. The committee stressed the need for funding these environmental projects as part of the country’s strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Alaa Al-Dalfi, a member of the committee, told Al-Sabah newspaper that during regular meetings, which include the Mayor of Baghdad, municipal agents, and general directors, the committee emphasized the importance of investing in undeveloped land and transforming it into parks and green spaces for public use.

“The public is in dire need of these spaces as recreational areas that provide relaxation and an escape from the pressures of daily life,” Al-Dalfi said.

The committee is prioritizing support for these projects, which aim to improve air quality and lower high temperatures. Al-Dalfi noted that providing green spaces is an urgent and crucial initiative, insisting that Iraq must allocate the necessary funds to implement these plans.

“Any investment in these projects will benefit the citizens, especially since parks and green areas contribute to improving the physical and mental health of the population,” he added.

Green spaces in Iraq have significantly decreased in recent years, with contributing factors including urban expansion, inadequate environmental policies, and the impact of climate change. In Baghdad, green spaces have shrunk from about 50% to 17%, largely due to unchecked real estate development, poor urban planning, and limited government efforts to maintain or expand public parks.

In early June, Baghdad’s Mayor, Ammar Musa Kadhim, announced the upcoming launch of a large-scale project to transform the Al-Rasheed military base area into sustainable forests and recreational zones. This initiative, set to cover 5,000 dunums (1,235 acres), will be the largest of its kind in Iraq.

Despite ongoing efforts to expand Iraq’s green spaces, obstacles remain, including political instability, lack of cohesive urban planning, and insufficient financial resources. Experts say Iraq requires a comprehensive environmental strategy that includes both short- and long-term planning, improved policies, and international cooperation to secure funding and expertise for green initiatives.

In a related effort, the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture announced it has planted over 6.4 million trees across the country in the past 18 months, surpassing the initial goal of five million trees set by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani. The tree-planting initiative, launched in March 2023 at the “Iraq for Climate” conference in Basra, is part of a broader effort to address the country’s climate challenges.

The United Nations has ranked Iraq as the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, facing severe risks from water scarcity, drought, extreme temperatures, and pollution.