Impact Synthesis: Iraq Project

Iraq is highly vulnerable to water scarcity, soil degradation, extreme heat and increasingly frequent dust storms, pressures that strain livelihoods and essential services and can exacerbate existing conflicts in a complex security and political environment. This impact synthesis, developed by Berghof Foundation, Peace Paradigms Organisation and adelphi draws on outcome harvesting over the 2022–2026 project period to assess how research, dialogue and mediation have strengthened Iraqi capacities to address the climate-conflict nexus. The report covers:

• Project context, outlining how climate and environmental pressures interact with Iraq's governance challenges and political and security dynamics.
• Key outcomes, including locally negotiated agreements on water and resource management, the establishment of conflict-resolution mechanisms, strengthened trust between communities and authorities, and evidence of national policy uptake.
• Lessons on integrated programming, covering how shared climate concerns can bridge divided communities, how small-scale initiatives can turn dialogue into visible and equitable action, why meaningful inclusive participation matters for legitimacy, and how sustained early engagement supports the uptake of local experience into national policy.
• Recommendations for Iraqi policymakers, the international community and to practitioners, on sustaining climate-security dialogue, financing locally agreed solutions and embedding conflict-sensitive approaches in institutions.

Learn more about the project "Strengthening Iraqi capacities to respond to climate risks and their impact on existing conflict dynamics" here. 

Read the full outcome evaluation "Navigating climate and conflict" here.