Erbil marks its first Environment Day
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region capital Erbil had its first Environment Day on Tuesday, a new annual event to spread awareness about the growing dangers to the environment.
The head of the Kurdistan Region's environment authority and local officials witnessed the inauguration of the new day, which was followed by a tree planting event in one of the capital's schools attended by students and teachers.
The new day is part of the autonomous region's plan to raise greater awareness amid rising threats to the planet posed by increasing carbon emissions. The capital will hold an Environment Day every Apr. 4.
The Kurdistan Region Environment Day will take place on Apr. 16 and Iraq will have its own Environment Day on Apr. 15.
A number of other provinces and districts in the Kurdistan Region have also set dates for their annual environmental days that will feature similar campaigns and events.
Erbil has recently endured extreme weather events, including harsh droughts and flash flooding. These events have forced authorities to pay more attention to the growing dangers posed by climate change.
Kurdish environmental groups are doing their part to mitigate the effects of climate change by spreading awareness and planting trees throughout the region.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that more needs to be done by every country and ordinary people to curb rising global warming in order to "secure a livable future."
Factories are one of the sources of carbon gas emissions that significantly contribute to rising global warming, against which countries signed a pact in Paris in 2015 to cap the rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region plan to import carbon capture technologies for their industries since factories are no longer built outside urban areas due to rapid population growth, the Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Board of Environmental Protection and Improvement Abdul Rahman Sidiq told reporters on Sunday.