• Waste management: including domestic, clinical and hazardous industrial waste
• Tackling the legacy of Iraq's conflicts: clean-up of unexploded ordnance and depleted
uranium (DU)
• Environmental problems relating to the oil industry
• Ecosystem degradation, including the destruction of the Mesopotamian Marshlands,
desertification and drought, and deforestation
• Biodiversity: including the status of protected areas and protected species
• Institutional and administrative issues: including the lack of effective infrastructure for
environmental management
Environmental contamination and degradation represent a threat to human health and the
sustainable livelihoods of Iraqi citizens as well as an impediment to economic stability and
growth, both within Iraq and across the region.
2. UK approach and policy on environmental reconstruction in Irag
Post-conflict development in Iraq must consider all three pillars of sustainable development -
economic, social and environmental - if it is to be of lasting benefit to the Iraqi people. A
Cabinet Office ad hoc officials' committee was set up in April 2003 specifically to consider
fully integrated into the wider reconstruction effort. Remedial action on environment-related
issues should not only include short term clean-up measures and the restoration of public
services (energy, waste and water), but also longer term actions such as building a sound
knowledge base and institutional capacities for environmental management in Iraq.
Coordination between donors, the international system, such as UN agencies and IF's, the
future Iraqi Administration and other major players is essential to ensure effective action. The
Iraqi people need to be consulted and engaged in the reconstruction effort.
This interdepartmentally agreed line was set out by Margaret Beckett in her 11 June letter to
the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dr Klaus
Toepfer, on post conflict environmental assessment. UK officials should continue to factor
this approach to environmental reconstruction into strategic and operational policy. At
the international level, it needs to inform the UK contribution to the CPA Strategy and the work
of other relevant actors, such as UN agencies and IFl's. • This is necessary not only to secure
the best possible outcomes on the ground, but also to demonstrate consistency with relevant
UK international commitments.
DECLASSIFIED

UNEP's Post Conflict Assessment Unit (PCAU) published their 'Desk Study of the Environment
in Iraq' in April 2003. It provides an overview of the pressing environmental challenges in Iraq
and makes recommendations for achieving environmentally sustainable reconstruction. The
PCAU aims to conduct a full environmental field assessment between September a
December 2003, subject to security considerations, and publish a report in March 2004. The
assessment will
build upon the recommendations in the Desk Study and will provide
information on which effective reconstruction decisions and actions can be based. (Two issues
to be considered by the assessment include DU and the restoration of the Mesopotamian
Marshlands. These have a high public profile and are considered further below).
In welcoming the work of UNEP's PCAU, Margaret Beckett's letter made clear that UK support
to the PCAU was likely to be chiefly practical. She said that HMG officials would continue to
share information with the PCAU and indicated that UK civil servants seconded to the CPA,
and our armed forces, could provide the assessment team with information and practical
assistance on technical, operational and sustainable development issues. UK officials should
provide the PCAU with contact details for relevant experts and any available information
on environmental issues as required. Subject to an appropriate post being identified,
and to security considerations, a UK civil servant with environmental expertise should
be seconded to the CPA in Iraq.
The PCAU have estimated the total cost of the assessment and reporting to be arounu
US$1.35m. They requested US$850,000 in the revised OCHA Flash Appeal on 23 June (to
cover calendar year 2003). According to the PCAU Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland
and Germany have so far expressed a strong interest in part-funding the assessment. DFID
have provisionally agreed to provide 50% funding but are unlikely to be a major donor in
this sector in the long-term.
UK support for UNEP work on Depleted Uranium (DU)
See also MOD paper on DU
The PCAU field mission will include a scientific assessment of sites struck with weapons
containing depleted uranium (DU) during recent and past conflicts. The PCAU has suggested
Willingness to offer a secondle for the PeA assessment team subject to agree state tehes
DECLASSIFIED

dovetall with other players as far as possible, they are sceptical of the UN role on the
marshlands issue and have taken the lead in developing a strategy for marshland restoration
and economic development in the region, to issue in 6-12 months time A US team has
recently undertaken a preliminary scoping visit in Iraq, which will inform the writing of this
strategy. US interest in the marshlands has been driven by media interest and the personal
interest of Natsios (US AID administrator) who publicly announced that marshland restoration
would be a high priority.
There appears to be a lack of coordination between the various interested parties engaged in
work on the marshlands, and on environmental reconstruction more generally. Officials
should continue to encourage the US, UN agencies and other major players to share
information and work closely together on environmental reconstruction issues to
ensure the most effective action. Officials should also consider what UK support,
information and expertise can be provided.
UK collaboration with the US
The US Department of State (DOS) established an Inter-Agency Team in March 2003 to
consider environmental challenges in Iraq. An EPA official was seconded to the CPA in
Baghdad in April, but was withdrawn in early June due to security considerations. US DOS
have indicated to UK officials their intention to establish an intergovernmental 'coalition of the
willing' to consider environmental issues in Iraq. Their suggested coalition partners include UK,
Italy (EU presidency), the Netherlands, Australia and Canada. The objectives, structure and
timing of this coalition are unclear. The US have proposed an initial meeting of embassy
representatives in July to discuss the process, and a meeting of partners in October to discuss
areas of interest, identify technical expertise, set priorities and decide how best to take these
and will be
forward. Officials will be seeking further clarification on this proposal
developing a response. HMG will need to ensure that the work of any such coalition is
consistent with the UK approach to environmental reconstruction and does not cut
across other structures for co-ordination of the reconstruction effort. The potential
resource implications will also need to be considered.
UK collaboration with the EU
At the recent European Council on 19-20 June, where Heads agreed the importance of
sustainable reconstruction in Iraq, Javier Solana presented the European security strategy
DECLASSIFIED

DECLASSIFIED