NATO lawmakers warn climate change may worsen Middle East security risks
Climate change will worsen food and water shortages in the Middle East and north Africa, and risk triggering more conflict and mass migration, with serious implications for the wider world, lawmakers from NATO's Parliamentary Assembly said Monday.
"The long-term prospects for food and water security in the MENA region are dire," said Osman Askin Bak, a member of the Turkish Parliament who will present the draft report on Saturday at the Parliamentary Assembly - a gathering of senior parliamentarians from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 28 member states.
"Climate change will worsen the region's outlook," he added.
War, poor governance, climate change and other issues have worsened tensions over competition for scarce water and food in the Middle East and north Africa, the lawmakers said.
Michael Huniewicz