In 2003, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiated a project to collect and synthesize information on the chronic environmental problems and environmental impact of conflict in Iraq. The resultant Desk Study on the Environment in Iraq concluded that damage from the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980s, the 1991 Gulf War, environmental mismanagement by the former Iraqi regime, the economic impact of sanctions and underlying environmental stresses have resulted in severe damage. Following the findings of the Desk Study, UNEP undertook the following work:
Environmental assessment
Throughout 2005, UNEP remotely managed the assessment of five contaminated industrial sites by teams of Iraqi experts from the Ministry of Environment. UNEP's findings were released in the report Assessment of Environmental ‘Hot Spots’ in Iraq.
Clean-up activities
The environmental assessment identified a cyanide-contaminated site south of Baghdad as requiring immediate risk reduction measures. UNEP successfully completed the clean-up of the site.
Environmental institutions and coordination
As part of the assessment process and to address the large number of remaining contaminated sites, UNEP provided technical training to 300 Iraqi experts to support the development of an Iraqi-managed site assessment and remediation programme.
Environmental law and policy
UNEP provided technical legal assistance in drafting the Iraqi framework environmental law.
Remote sensing
The Desk Study identified the Mesopotamian Marshlands as having been almost completely destroyed by 2002 as a consequence of drainage work and upstream damming. UNEP designed and coordinated the implementation of the Iraqi Marshlands Observation System and the systematic reflooding of the wetlands.
Environmental information and education
UNEP worked with the World Health Organization toward the establishment of an Environmental Information Center within the Ministry of Environment, which could provide a central depository for baseline data.
