Chairing Deltas Summit, Iraqi President Warns of Marshland Crisis

Iraq 04:40 PM - 2025-06-09

Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid addressing the Deltas of the World Summit

Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid has issued a stark warning over the alarming degradation of Iraq’s southern marshes, describing their transformation into salt-covered wastelands as a national and global environmental crisis. 

Speaking at the Deltas of the World Summit in Nice, co-chaired with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, President Rashid called for urgent international cooperation to protect the world’s river deltas from the growing threats of climate change, upstream water mismanagement, and pollution.

Held on the sidelines of the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), the summit brought together world leaders and high-level delegations to discuss the critical role of deltas in food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience.

A Shared Environmental Crisis

In his address, President Rashid emphasised that river deltas are not only ecological treasures but also the cradles of ancient civilisations and vital to present-day livelihoods.

“It is a great honour to co-chair this vital summit with my colleague, the Prime Minister of Vietnam,” he said. “As nations historically shaped by the life-giving power of deltas, we share not only a cultural legacy but an urgent responsibility.”

He noted that the Mesopotamian Delta—formed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers—was the birthplace of writing, law, and urban society. Similarly, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta has sustained its people for centuries with its fertile land and abundant water resources.

“These landscapes are not just physical features,” he added. “They are the bedrock of our economies, the source of our food, and the heart of our cultural identities.”

Iraq’s Marshes in Crisis

President Rashid painted a grim picture of Iraq’s marshes, once thriving ecosystems now drying at a dramatic pace:

“Our UNESCO-listed southern marshes are undergoing a tragic transformation. Once lush with life, they are turning into arid, salt-encrusted plains.”

He attributed this collapse to a near 40% decline in water flow through the Tigris–Euphrates system, driven by climate change, upstream dam construction, and unsustainable water extraction.

“What were once mighty rivers are being reduced to narrow streams,” he said. “Upstream developments and lack of equitable water-sharing frameworks are threatening the very existence of Iraq’s wetlands.”

Pollution and Shared Challenges

The President also warned of the mounting impact of pollution on delta regions worldwide:

“Industrial waste, agricultural runoff, and untreated wastewater are poisoning the same waters our ancestors revered.”

He noted that both Iraq and Vietnam are experiencing similar consequences—declining fish stocks, degraded farmland, and rising public health risks.

“These shared struggles make clear that the protection of deltas must be an international priority,” he added.

A Call for Global Action

President Rashid called for the international community to treat river deltas as critical infrastructure for food security, climate adaptation, and biodiversity conservation.

“The solutions are available—improved irrigation, integrated water management, sustainable energy transitions. What’s needed is the political will to implement them.”

He concluded with a call to preserve this shared environmental and cultural heritage:

“Protecting the deltas of the world is not only an environmental necessity—it is an act of preserving human civilisation itself. The future of the Cradle of the Two Rivers, and the abundance of the Mekong, rests on the choices we make today.”



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