Policy analysis: The repercussions of climate change in Palestine, and the policies to confront it
Pal-Think issued «The consequences of climate change in Palestine and policies of response», by Omar Shaban, Yahya Qaoud and Mahmoud Issa, under the Pal-Think Academy for Democracy and Human Rights (phase two), funded by Germany's ifa.
- Author
- The editorial team
- Date
- 2023-07-24
Pal-Think issued a policy paper titled (The Repercussions of Climate Change in Palestine, and the Policies to Confront It), prepared by the researchers Omar Shaban, Yahya Qaoud, and Mahmoud Issa, under the project (Pal-Think Academy for Democracy and Human Rights — phase two), funded by the German Institute for Foreign Relations (ifa).
The paper surveyed the various effects of climate change, which has become a tangible reality in our contemporary world: no state or region can any longer keep itself apart from its effects, yet weak and fragile states such as Palestine remain the most affected, lacking as they do the foundations of flexible response and adaptation to the various threats. It assessed the potential risks of climate change, which fall upon Palestine's economic sectors in interlocking ways, exposing it to many potential dangers across the water, agriculture, fishing, energy, and health sectors. The paper set out the challenges and obstacles that place an added burden on Palestine's capacity to adapt to the phenomenon of climate change and deal with its effects.
The paper offered a set of policy alternatives and solutions in a serious research attempt to confront climate change and meet its potential challenges and risks within the limits of Palestinian means and capacities, in coordination between the relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies. The first alternative is devoted to proactive confrontation measures and policies: raising environmental awareness and strengthening environmental values until they become conduct and practice for all citizens, in addition to strengthening knowledge production and research on climate change on which decisions depend — which necessitates unifying government policies across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The second alternative is devoted to reactive measures and policies. Despite the importance of proactive measures in limiting the severity of climate change's effects, those effects have become challenges and obstacles before Palestine's productive sectors, especially agriculture — compelling a set of urgent reactive responses to adapt to and limit them. Qaoud put forward a set of rapid responses that could reduce the impacts of the climate changes striking Palestinian society, among them: raising energy-use efficiency, strengthening the available economic opportunities for climate adaptation, and relying on green fertilisers.
The third alternative is devoted to confronting the occupation's policies and measures: documenting the (Israeli) violations, activating Palestinian diplomacy, and drawing on Palestine's accession to the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
