Amman, Sept. 30 (Petra) -- Minister of Environment Ayman Suleiman held a meeting Wednesday with Iraqi Minister of Environment. Sarwa Abdulwahid Qadir, during which they discussed ways to enhance environmental cooperation between the two countries and address shared environmental and climate challenges.

On the sidelines of the meeting of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for Environmental Affairs, held at the headquarters of the Arab League General Secretariat in Cairo, the two sides discussed the most prominent environmental challenges facing Jordan and Iraq, foremost among them the effects of climate change and the repercussions of dust and sandstorms and the environmental, health, and economic impacts they cause, affirming the importance of enhancing coordination and exchanging expertise and experiences to reduce the effects of these phenomena.

Both sides stressed the importance of exploring ways to mobilize international support to enable the two countries to confront the growing effects of climate change and dust and sandstorms, enhance their capacity to adapt and respond to these challenges, and benefit from available climate financing mechanisms.

The two sides also agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Jordanian and Iraqi environment ministries on the sidelines of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31), scheduled to be held in the Turkish city of Antalya, to strengthen cooperation frameworks and the exchange of expertise and knowledge in environmental and climate fields of common interest.

The meeting comes within Jordan and Iraq's keenness to enhance bilateral cooperation and Arab coordination in confronting environmental and climate challenges and developing joint efforts to address the effects of climate change.

//Petra// AF