The Arab Youth Sustainable Development Network has issued a regional statement expressing deep concern over the escalating military tensions in West Asia, involving regional and international actors, alongside attacks targeting several Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. The network warned of severe environmental consequences that could persist for decades.
The statement emphasized that the impacts of military operations extend beyond human and material losses to include widespread environmental degradation in a region already characterized by ecological fragility and acute water scarcity. It highlighted that strikes on Oil facilities, industrial infrastructure, and energy networks have resulted in the release of hazardous pollutants, including heavy metals and fine particulate matter, posing serious cross-border health risks.
The network also warned of escalating threats to water resources due to attacks on desalination plants, water distribution systems, and wastewater treatment facilities. Such damage could deprive millions of access to clean drinking water and lead to potentially irreversible groundwater contamination.
In addition, the statement underscored the destruction of agricultural lands caused by munitions remnants and fires, threatening food security in affected countries. It further noted the damage inflicted on fragile marine ecosystems in the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean, including coral reefs and fisheries that sustain millions of livelihoods.
The statement also pointed out that these developments undermine regional climate efforts due to massive greenhouse gas emissions resulting from infrastructure destruction, fossil fuel combustion, and large-scale displacement.
Direct Impact on Youth
The network stressed that young people will bear the heaviest burden of these environmental consequences, both in the short and long term. Youth face increasing health risks due to polluted air and water, alongside declining employment opportunities in agriculture and environmentally dependent sectors as natural resources deteriorate.
It further highlighted that younger generations will inherit a heavy environmental legacy, including contaminated soil, depleted water resources, and degraded ecosystems, limiting prospects for sustainable development and affecting long-term stability in the region. The network also warned that excluding youth from environmental response efforts exacerbates these challenges, calling for their meaningful inclusion in recovery, reconstruction, and environmental decision-making processes.
The network reaffirmed that “environmental destruction is not an acceptable cost of war,” stressing that international humanitarian law prohibits methods of warfare that cause widespread, long-term, and severe environmental damage. It called for strict adherence to these principles without exception.
In conclusion, the network issued urgent calls to all parties to immediately halt attacks on environmental and civilian infrastructure. It also urged the United Nations to deploy emergency environmental assessment missions and called on the League of Arab States to convene an emergency session on environmental security and establish a regional environmental emergency fund.
The network affirmed that a sustainable future in the region depends on achieving peace and environmental justice, urging all stakeholders to address the environmental crisis with the same level of urgency as the ongoing humanitarian emergency.