While analyzing environmental issues in Kuwait, one shall pay attention to the geographical location and the resources of the country. Kuwait is an oil-rich country of a small size, located at the top of the Gulf. The country neighbors on Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. It contains large oil reserves, which makes the country one of the most powerful in the region, and one of the oil-richest country in the world. The overall population of the country amounts at 2.9 million people, and the area occupies 17,818 sq km. Because of the oil factor, the country often experiences pollution in many areas. Consequently, the population of Kuwait suffers from such environmental issues, and the urgent action to tackle them is very much needed.
The fact that Kuwait is located between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two countries known for their pollution, also has an effect on Kuwait. Despite the fact that Kuwait is a relatively small country, the level of polluting is quite high. This is also related to the governmental actions in failing to tackle corruption. Even though the government of Kuwait put some efforts to reduce the scope of these issues and create the agencies that would facilitate the research and result in the ultimate reduction of environmental pollution, the damages from the pollution remain quite high in the country. The key issues related to the environmental pollution are the following: climate change, loss of biodiversity and agriculture, water and air pollution.
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While analyzing the implication of each type of these environmental issues, it is also important to present the solutions that will counter these issues in the nearest future. While assessing the issue of climate change and the pollution created from the country of Kuwait, it is also worth mentioning that the government of Kuwait put some efforts to tackle the climate change on the international level. In that regard, the country clearly understands that the climate change is a global issue and the response should arrive from the representatives of various countries altogether. On the national level, the researchers concluded that the country of Kuwait and its oil production will lead to the increase of 1.6 C in the climate regionally, it no actions for tackling it will come up. Besides that, there is a potential that the dust storms and the decrease of rainfalls will be also experienced in the region. To tackle these issues, the government of Kuwait signed the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement, establishing the actions for reducing climate change in the next decades. Such international commitment clearly evidences the interest of the government in improving the environmental issues domestically, too.
At the same time, the government of Kuwait undertook certain actions domestically that aim at reducing the climate change, too. For instance, the country continues constructing desalination plants, as 37% of the population depends on the salt water arriving from the Gulf. The education measures within the country are also indicate that commitment of the country to tackle the issues domestically.
The government of Kuwait also actively cooperates with the international organizations, responsible for reducing environmental issues around the world. In particular, the government had an effective cooperation with the United Nations. Both partners developed procedures for the more effective use of water as well as for ensuring desalinating measures. The United Nations also assisted the government of Kuwait in measuring the air pollution in the country in order to understand the damage and the measures that will help tackle the issue. Overall, Kuwait bears a lot of responsibilities for resolving environmental issues and manages the process of eliminating these issues rather well.
- Casey, M. (2007). The history of Kuwait (1st ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
- Foster, L. (1998). Kuwait (1st ed.). New York: Children’s Press.
- Kuwait country profile – BBC News. (2017). BBC News. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14644252 - Water and electricity in the state of Kuwait. (2005) (1st ed.). Kuwait.
