In partnership with the National Initiative to Support Energy and Reduce Emissions (SERE), the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) organized the Energy and Environment Conference that brought together scholars, government officials, members of parliament, diplomats, civil society activists, university students, and interested parties to discuss charting a common path towards environmental sustainability and supporting a transition to renewable energy in Iraq, in ways that promote sustainable development and ensure a healthy and prosperous life for future generations.
AUIB had already embarked on an endeavor to formulate sustainable solutions for the many environmental and economic challenges that Iraq faces. Through its Center for Climate Change, Water Security, and Environmental Sustainability, AUIB offers small grants to finance research projects on sustainability in various fields, such as engineering, environmental sciences, education, and public policy, undertaken by researchers at AUIB and external collaborators, explained AUIB’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Zouhair Atieh, who hoped that the combined efforts of AUIB and its partners would yield “ground-breaking initiatives in service of the new generations.”
“We have to be aware that we are now in the extreme weather zone,” where Iraq witnesses, in parallel with unprecedented high temperatures and exacerbation of desertification, record low temperatures in some regions in winter, meaning that policies aiming to reduce emissions are vital, and that “gradual transition towards renewable energies is inevitable,” according to the President of SERE and Deputy Minister for Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Environment, Dr. Jassim Al-Falahi. “The main aim of the National Initiative is to change the prevalent mentality, (gearing it towards) economizing the consumption of water and energy, and transitioning towards renewable energies,” capitalizing on the fact that “Iraq is one the countries most endowed with solar radiation rates in the world,” said Dr. Al-Falahi, elaborating, in the same context, on the imperative to diversify the Iraqi economy away from almost complete dependence on the oil sector, by investing in sectors such as Smart Agriculture and Environmental Tourism.