The Kuwait Environment Protection Society is participating in the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), currently being held in Baku, Azerbaijan. As the only Kuwaiti society accredited to the UNFCCC, its participation is located in the Blue Zone, similar to government delegations. The Society organized a side event under the theme "Awareness Campaign for the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict," a day for which Kuwait is responsible for international promotion, in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 56/4.
The side event began with a welcoming and introductory speech by association member Hadeel Al-Aradi. The session was opened by Minister Plenipotentiary Dr. Mahmoud Fathallah, Director of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Meteorology at the League of Arab States, who presented an overview of the current situation in the Arab world. The dialogue session was moderated by Dr. Emad El-Din Adly, General Coordinator of the Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED). The session included representatives from civil society environmental organizations from five Arab countries.
Hadeel Al-Aradi, a member of the association and its representative at the session, said that the participants each delivered speeches and presentations on the impact of wars on the environment in their countries on more than one level. These participants included Dr. Dani Al-Obeid from the Insan Association for Environment and Development in Lebanon, Engineer Saadia Al-Salehi representing the Ma’an Association from the Republic of Iraq, and Dr. Yasser Ba Azab, coordinator of the Raed Network and the national focal point for the Global Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (GNDR) from Yemen. She emphasized the Kuwait Environment Protection Society’s interest in sharing the Palestinian experience despite the difficulty of attending the conference, and facilitated participation through a recorded video of Mariam Al-Ja’ja”, representing the Arab Society for the Protection of Natural Life in Palestine.
During her speech at the campaign to raise awareness of the ”International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict – November 6, 2024,“ Hadeel Al-Aradi said, ”Since the State of Kuwait called for this international day, it is our responsibility to raise awareness about it globally. Dr. Wijdan Aloqab founded the campaign to raise awareness of November 6 in 2017.“ She began by ”reviewing important topics each year under slogans that cover events and damages to illustrate their impact and the extent of their danger to the environment. These include efforts to combat burning oil wells, international and national efforts to extinguish them, and the effects of landmines, the most recent of which this year was under the slogan ‘The Impact of Projectiles, Bombs, and Explosives on the Environment.’”.
Hadeel Al-Aradi referred to the war on Gaza, and said: “Our message today is mixed with sorrow, regret, and pain to Gaza, the symbol of steadfastness, and it goes beyond it to every part of the world that is witnessing battles and conflicts, but I directed it to beloved Gaza because it has become a prominent example of destruction and devastation, residential, urban, environmental, and natural, not to mention more than 43,000 martyrs, and the number of wounded exceeding 130,000, and all of this falls under the use of excessive force against people, stones, nature, and infrastructure.”.
The association’s representative concluded her speech at the “side event” of the Climate Summit 29 by saying: “I would like to point out the Kuwait Environment Protection Society’s praise and support for the “Summit Truce” initiative put forward by the Republic of Azerbaijan, President of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which is a global call for a ceasefire during the summit. It is also consistent with the objectives of the “International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict – November 6” campaign, which we are currently undertaking.”.
