A new ICRC/Norwegian Red Cross policy brief "Making Adaptation Work" presents how the humanitarian consequences of environmental degradation and climate change are aggravated by armed conflict in the Near and Middle East, and which adaptation approaches are emerging to face the compounding impact using examples from Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The role of water crises in conflicts in places like Syria, Nigeria and Iran often feature in media and policy outlets. Many believe that climate change could spark future conflicts. But research shows that most conflicts are driven by factors other than the effects of climate change. Some research suggests …
Violent attacks on and interferences with hospitals, ambulances, health workers, and patients during conflict destroy vital health services during a time when they are most needed and undermine the long-term capacity of the health system. In Syria, such attacks have been frequent and intense and represent grave violations of the …
Conflict is worsening global starvation, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as it called for greater peace-building efforts to end hunger for almost 500 million people living in war zones. In the world's eight hungriest countries, at least one in four people do not have enough to eat, two U.N. …
Extreme weather events such as Hurricane Harvey are increasingly being linked to climate change in scientific studies Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Climate change is increasing the risk of extreme weather events, including droughts, flooding and heatwaves, according to a new report. Researchers from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, a non …
* Syria move leaves U.S. only country opposed to 2015 agreement * Trump says he intends to promote coal and oil industries instead * Pact aims to curb rising temperatures from greenhouse gases emissions (adds reactions, details) Syria plans to join the 2015 Paris agreement for slowing global warming, isolating …
Syria has decided to sign the Paris agreement on climate change, the world’s final functioning state to do so. The surprise decision, taken amid a brutal civil war in the country, will leave the US as the only country outside the agreement if it follows through on President Donald Trump’s …
Nicaragua is set to join the Paris climate agreement, according to an official statement and comments from the vice-president, Rosario Murillo, on Monday, in a move that leaves the United States and Syria as the only countries outside the global pact. Nicaragua has already presented the relevant documents at the …
YAOUNDE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Middle East and North Africa region loses about $21 billion each year because of an inadequate supply of water and sanitation, the World Bank said on Tuesday, warning urgent action is needed to prevent ripple effects on stability and growth. Poor management of water …
School playgrounds across Syria are being transformed into vegetable gardens where children whose diets have been devastated by six years of war can learn to grow — and then eat — aubergines, lettuces, peppers, cabbages and cucumbers. Traditional Syrian cuisine is typical of the region, and rich in vegetables. Its …
Climate change is ranked alongside the Islamic State as one of the world's two greatest threats with increasing numbers of people concerned about global warming, according to an international survey by a U.S. think tank. The Pew Research Center survey of nearly 42,000 people in 38 countries showed the percentage …
(AFP) - More than 31 million people were displaced in their own countries by conflict, violence and disasters in 2016, with China and the Democratic Republic of Congo among the worst affected, a new report by a monitoring center said Monday. The Democratic Republic of Congo had a spike of …
The influx of millions of Syrian refugees into Turkey has rapidly changed the population distribution along the Dead Sea Rift and East Anatolian fault zones. In contrast to other countries in the Middle East where refugees are accommodated in camp environments, the majority of displaced individuals in Turkey are integrated …
Over the past ten years, both our understanding and awareness of the links between climate change and security have increased tremendously. Today the UN, the EU, the G7 and an increasing number of states have classified climate change as a threat to global and/or national security. However, the links between …
War-torn Syria’s water supplies are deteriorating fast, triggering migration and disease and stoking a pollution crisis in neighbouring Lebanon, hydrologists and humanitarian groups have warned. “Water security continues to deteriorate for many civilians [in Syria]. Evidence shows that control over power and water infrastructure is [being] used as a weapon …
The Arab uprising in 2010 and subsequent wars in the eastern Mediterranean region have had serious detrimental effects on the health and life expectancy of the people living in many of the 22 countries in the region [1], according to a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease …
The eastern Mediterranean region is comprised of 22 countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Since our Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010), the region has faced …
PARIS – While grain silos in many Western countries may overflow this winter, tens of millions of people risk going without food as hunger is being used more than ever as a weapon of war. More than 50 million people living in 17 conflict-ridden countries are in “severe food insecurity,” …
Poverty in civil-war hit Syria is growing exponentially with a majority of the population now living below the poverty line, a report published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia says. According to the report, the percentage of people below the poverty line has risen from 28% …
The Paris pact to limit global temperature increases to less than 2 degrees will still result in some parts of the planet warming by as much as 6 degrees due to regional variations, researchers in Switzerland and Australia said. While the world will likely pass two degrees of warming by …
An estimated $40 billion is needed annually to help the rapidly growing number of people needing humanitarian aid as a result of conflicts and natural disasters - and one possibility to help fill the $15 billion funding gap is a small voluntary tax on tickets for soccer games and other …
