Minister of Water: Climate change increases challenges facing government

[19/09/2024 08:28]

ADEN-SABA
The Minister of Water and Environment Engineer Tawfiq al-Sharjabi has said the climate changes affecting Yemen add more complex challenges for the Yemeni government due to the Houthi terrorist coup, the war it ignited, and the economic and humanitarian crises it has caused.

This came during his participation in a virtual roundtable organized Thursday by the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) on the impacts of climate-related challenges in Yemen and the constraints on responses to these challenges.

The meeting included policymakers, international experts, and academics, discussing the effects of climate challenges on peace-building efforts in Yemen and the limitations of the current political response, as well as ways to enhance international support for the Yemeni government's efforts to address climate change and build a more sustainable future.

Minister al-Sharjabi reviewed the Yemeni government's efforts to confront climate-related dangers, which began activating climate action in 2019 after a halt since 2015 due to the war.

He emphasized the government's pursuit of establishing institutional and technical infrastructure to tackle the worsening climate effects that have directly impacted various sectors and the lives and livelihoods of citizens, posing security, economic, and developmental threats.

He pointed out the grave danger of Houthi attacks on oil tankers in the Red Sea on the environment, making adaptation and mitigation efforts more difficult.

He added that these attacks threaten marine biodiversity and coastal communities, increasing Yemen's climate vulnerability and making it more susceptible to the extreme effects of climate change.

He stressed the importance of international support for the Yemeni government's efforts to adapt to climate change, noting that Yemen is the second most affected country by climate change impacts in the world and one of the least prepared to mitigate and adapt to its effects, despite being one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.