Supporting local dialogue to address climate security risks in Iraq

While the impacts of climate change manifest differently in Iraq, Iraq is the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change worldwide (UNEP).  
Combined with long-standing grievances between various communities, weak governance capacities and a delicate power balance of key political stakeholders, the additional pressure of climate change on contested and scarce resources is already exacerbating conflict dynamics.
The project is jointly implemented by the Berghof Foundation and the Peace Paradigms Organisation. It aims at enhancing understanding and supporting dialogue on the local level. It entails an analysis of the climate-conflict-nexus in three different Iraqi districts. This serves to better understand the impact of climate change on the conflict dynamics. Building on the analysis and using climate change as an entry point for peacebuilding and mediation efforts, a local-level dialogue platform will be established. The dialogue sessions focus on the impacts of climate change on local conflict dynamics resulting in a local agreement to address one of the identified pressing issues.