It’s dusk in Baghdad, and the air is a mixture of dust, generator smoke and the damp whiff of the Tigris River. On the streets near the city’s Tahrir Square, which five years earlier was filled with crowds of angry young protesters, trees are being cut down to make way for traffic.
Karim was part of those protests. Walking towards the square, the 24-year-old climate activist tells me about his vision for a greener, more climate-resilient Iraq: ‘I want to have a future for me and my children where air is still breathable and water is accessible,’ he says. Like other young activists, Karim has changed how he operates, from the direct confrontation that was met with violence during the demonstrations in Tahrir Square in 2019, to a quieter, but equally powerful approach.
The Tishreen uprising which broke out in October 2019 was the largest wave of mass protest in Iraq’s recent history. Demonstrations were driven by the disillusionment of Iraq’s youth and their anger over corruption, limited job opportunities and inadequate public services. The movement sought to end Iraq’s sectarian quota system, foreign interference in internal affairs and political agendas, and to demand accountability from a self-serving political elite. Yet the uprisings were met with fierce repression. More than 600 people were killed, and many were injured or detained.
Barriers remain
Since then, Iraq has experienced a period of relative stability thanks to temporary political settlements and rising oil prices. But systemic challenges – including stifling bureaucracy, pervasive corruption and the lingering threat of state repression – remain. Despite the country’s growing wealth, many young Iraqis still face high unemployment rates and a lack of economic mobility.
As the Tishreen protests were met with violent repression in 2019, the climate crisis in Iraq continued to worsen. Five years later, the government has failed to limit the destructive practice of ‘gas-flaring’ – the burning of natural gas in the process of drilling for oil, which is visible at the Dora oil refinery in the distance. Photo: Hayder Al-Shakeri.
All the while, the effects of climate change are intensifying. And rather than taking steps to decarbonize, the government’s lack of accountability continues to enable the damaging practice of ‘gas flaring’ – the burning of natural gas in the process of drilling for oil – and the pollution of Iraq’s air and waterways.
Momentum waned after 2019, but activists didn’t give up hope – they found different ways to make change.
Constructive resistance
Today, many activists internationally are adopting a quieter, more effective approach known as ‘constructive resistance’. According to its adherents, this pushes for incremental reform over radical system change. In Iraq, it provides a way of channelling the ‘Tishreen spirit’ into more practical and localized projects. Climate activism, in the form of advocacy and raising awareness, embodies this ethos.
Iraq faces serious environmental threats, ranking among the world’s hottest countries and those most vulnerable to climate change. Water scarcity, desertification and pollution are compounded by Iraq’s oil dependency, creating a cycle that devastates agriculture and livelihoods.
In 2018, for example, water pollution in Basra, southern Iraq, led to at least 118,000 people being treated in hospital. Similarly, in 2022, sandstorms affected more than 5,000 people in just one month.
Climate change is considered less sensitive than political reform and human rights issues. This enables activists to operate with slightly more freedom and grasp opportunities within the system and beyond.
Sara, for example, is attempting to hold the government accountable for its environmental policies by advocating for Unesco protection for Iraq’s culturally valuable marshlands, which are under threat of desertification. The 27-year-old describes this work with a team of fellow activists as ‘a bridge between heritage and survival’.
Figures within the machinery of government have been helpful, too. ‘We found a few people within the ministry of environment who listened to us, supported us and even protected us,’ Karim said. ‘Now we are working together to push for better environmental legislation and its application.’
Other concerns will take longer to address. The government, spurred by advocacy from local communities and civil society, has said it wants to achieve zero gas flare emissions within five years. But the last two decades have shown that many such promises remain unfulfilled.