The West Asia region is comprised of 12 member states: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The Region has undergone major socio-economic transformation with significant improvement in certain human development components over the past three decades, such as life expectancy, access to improved water and adequate sanitation. The Arab Region as a whole, and West Asia in particular, can be characterised as having two major challenges: resource scarcity and habitat pollution.
Economic development in the region has been mostly based on the exploitation of exhaustible natural resources. Conflicts over shared water resources are significant in the Region, where nearly 55% of renewable freshwater resources originate from outside the Region.Poor management and inefficient use of irrigation water have accelerated salinisation, water logging and nutrient depletion. Arable land, already scarce, is increasingly lost through land degradation and desertification. There is also an added pressure of rapid urbanization and industrial expansion in the region.
UNEP supports the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for Environment (CAMRE) and its Bureau to develop regional environmental programmes and to promote regional mechanisms for sustainable development. It also works with the Gulf Cooperation Council in the development of programmes and activities in the sub-region. In support of the Sustainable Development Initiative in the Arab Region, UNEP is active in the following priority areas:
Integrated and sustainable water, coastal zone and land management;
Urban environment management, air quality, waste and sustainable transportation;
Biodiversity and ecosystems management;
Promotion of sustainable production and consumption, including tourism;
Environmental assessment and early warning
Promotion of environmental emergency prevention systems, preparedness and response strategies;
Post-conflict assessment and follow-up;
Environmental education and capacity building;
Promotion of civil society participation in environmental management.
