Focusing on Climate Change

Over the last months, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Ramallah, in cooperation with the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority (EQA) and the Goethe Institut Ramallah, has been conducting a series of workshops focusing on “Climate Change and its Impact on Palestine.” Environmental challenges and in particular climate change have a great impact on the Palestinian territories.  In addition to that, the Israeli occupation plays a crucial role in exacerbating the situation by severely restricting the access to natural resources in areas B and C of the West Bank. The workshops aimed at encouraging academic and professional exchange on climate change with regards to the specific Palestinian implications, while at the same time providing the opportunity to students and a broader Palestinian public to gather up-to-date information.

While the first three workshops took place in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron, the latest workshop on March 29th invited its numerous participants into the premises of Bethlehem University where they were welcomed by Dr. Yousef Abu Safieh, chairman of the EQA, Brother Peter Bray, vice chancellor of Bethlehem University, and Dr. René Wildangel, director of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Ramallah.

The three speakers of the day were Dr. Mohammed Islemeiyah of the Land Research Center, Enas Bannourah of the Applied Research Institut Jerusalem (ARIJ), and Nedal Katbeh of the EQA. They not only presented information on the general consequences of climate change for Palestine and the Arab region, but also specifically focused on the particular effects on the Bethlehem governorate, and on areas such as food security that are especially vulnerable. The input to the audience was rounded off by short films about the impact of climate change on the Arab region, advocating an accelerated debate about climate change. In the end, the audience seized the opportunity to raise questions and to engage in a debate with the speakers. The events were a great overall success that we hope to continue in the future.