Location: Fairmont Hotel, Amman, Jordan or Online
Dates: June 23–24, 2025
Format: In-person and online (Zoom registration or Facebook livestream)
Organizers: Arab Reform Initiative & Robert Bosch Stiftung
This two-day conference explores how armed conflicts in MENA countries—Gaza, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—have severely damaged the environment and weakened countries’ resilience to climate change. It emphasizes the need to integrate environmental sustainability into post-conflict reconstruction, moving beyond just rebuilding infrastructure to also restoring ecosystems.
Key Themes & Panels
Day 1 – June 23, 2025
🔹 Opening Remarks – Nadim Houry (ARI)
🔹 Panel 1: Post-Conflict Syria
- Focus: Environmental damage from Syria’s 14-year war
- Key topics: Soil degradation, water contamination, waste collapse
- Speakers: Rula Asad, Ansar Jassim, Talah al Shami, Rukaia Alabadi
🔹 Panel 2: Ecocide as a Legal Concept
- Focus: Legal accountability for wartime environmental destruction
- Case studies: Syria, Gaza, Ukraine
- Speakers: Stavros Pantazopoulos, Rinata Kazak
🔹 Panel 3: Transboundary Water Disputes (Al-Assi River)
- Focus: Water sharing and power dynamics between Lebanon and Syria
- Speakers: Hiba Mohammad, Fadi Comair, Ahmed el Haj Asaad
Day 2 – June 24, 2025
🔹 Panel 4: Rebuilding Cities with Climate Adaptation
- Focus: Green and inclusive urban reconstruction
- Speakers: Ahmad Zaazaa, Aram Yeretzian, Shayan Kamil, Ahmed Nagi
🔹 Panel 5: Labor, Conflict, and Climate Change
- Focus: Impact on agricultural workers and the role of labor unions
- Speakers: Lina Ismail, Jessy Nassar, Kindah Ibrahim, Abuelgasim Adam
🔹 Panel 6: Global Lessons on Documenting Environmental Damage
- Focus: Case studies from Africa and Latin America
- Speakers: Tatiana Aguirre, Ukoha Ukiwo, Negasi Solomon, Syed Qasim Shah
- Note: Not available online
Purpose
To promote interdisciplinary dialogue and share strategies to:
- Document and redress environmental harm
- Promote legal accountability (e.g., ecocide)
- Embed climate resilience and community participation in rebuilding efforts
For more details and to apply, please see the event’s page.
