COP30 approves +$20M in climate support for Iraq

Shafaq News – Baghdad / Brasilia

Iraq obtained $22M in climate-related funding from the Green Climate Fund during the United Nations COP30 summit, the Ministry of Environment announced on Wednesday.

The conference, held in Brazil’s city of Belem, began on November 10 and will continue until November 21.

In a statement, the ministry’s National Center for Climate noted that funding will support projects addressing climate impacts across the country.

Iraq’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Luqman al-Faily, noted during the summit’s opening session that climate financing remains a major challenge for developing nations. Al-Faily delivered the joint statement of the Group of 77 and China, which Iraq currently chairs.

Iraq has experienced severe environmental deterioration over the past three years, with record heat, collapsing river flows, agricultural losses, and rising internal displacement placing the country among the world’s five most climate-vulnerable countries.

Over the past three decades, the country has already lost around 30% of its productive agricultural land due to climate change, according to a report by the Strategic Center for Human Rights released in early 2025.

Read more: Climate change emerges as a national security threat in Iraq