Newspapers issued in Baghdad today, Thursday, October 12, paid attention to Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani’s announcement of the launch of carbon reduction projects, political reactions and movements regarding the situation in Gaza and other issues.
Regarding the first topic, Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, said: “Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani announced the launch of carbon reduction projects in the East Baghdad field, and indicated that the development road project is unprecedented in Iraq and the region, and we have proceeded with the projects attached to it.”
It quoted the Prime Minister as saying in a speech at the Russian Energy Week Forum in its sixth session: “Our government has set its sights on the global energy transformation, represented by carbon reduction projects and energy efficiency projects,” noting that “with commitments to reduce carbon emissions until the year 2045 as well as. In order to help preserve the position of oil and gas as energy sources, which are considered the backbone of our economies, and to sustain them in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner in our interest as countries, and for this goal, we have begun launching carbon reduction projects financed by carbon bonds for gas projects in the East Baghdad field.”
He stressed: “The oil-producing countries can play an important role in this field, by working to improve energy efficiency, because climate restrictions are to combat the climate effects of fossil fuels, not the fuel itself, in order for oil to remain competitive in terms of its carbon footprint, while it becomes a feature of oil pricing,” noting that “Iraq has made great strides in the fields of renewable energy, by adding solar generating capacities estimated at three thousand megawatts.”
Al-Sudani added: “Our region, which is rich in natural resources, and at the same time coupled with security turmoil and political competition, is in need of economic integration and a regional system that establishes cooperation and prosperity.”
He explained: “The development road project is unprecedented in Iraq and the region and is being implemented, and we have proceeded with the projects attached to it, and it carries a package of positive economic goals in the medium and long term,” stressing “the necessity of creating a possible and promising practical connection between the countries of the region and the world through the development road project, and through a philosophy that believes in the communication of investors and capital, from the largest possible number of countries and peoples, so that our region becomes a platform where interests, development desires, and job opportunities meet, after it was a scene of political and security tensions, and thus Iraq has taken a great step forward on the path to enhancing cooperation with and among others.”
Regarding the political reactions and movements regarding the situation in Gaza, Al-Zaman newspaper referred to the emergency meeting of the Arab League, and the arrival of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Jordan and Israel during a Middle Eastern tour that ends tomorrow, Friday.
The newspaper reported that Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed with the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where more than 263,000 people have been displaced from their homes.
It touched on Jordanian King Abdullah II’s assertion that the region will not enjoy stability until the Palestinians obtain a sovereign state alongside Israel.
He was quoted as saying during the opening of a parliamentary session yesterday: “The dangerous escalation and acts of violence and aggression that the Palestinian territories are currently witnessing are evidence that confirms once again that our region will not enjoy security and stability without achieving a just and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution, so that the Palestinian people obtain their own independent state.” Sovereignty over the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Quds as its capital.”
The King of Jordan stressed that: “There is no security, no peace, and no stability without a just and comprehensive peace, for which the two-state solution is the only path.”
The newspaper went on to say: “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan considered that Israel does not behave like a state in the Gaza Strip.”
He was quoted as saying: “Israel must not forget that if it acts more like an organization than a state, it will end up being treated as such,” criticizing the flawed methods that the Israeli army resorts to in the most crowded sector in the world.
In another matter far from politics, Al-Sabah newspaper followed the problem of slums and their impact on the environment.
The newspaper said in this regard: “At a time when the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Public Municipalities is coordinating with UNICEF to solve the problem of slums in the country, the Governor of Baghdad, Muhammad Jaber Al-Atta, confirmed that their spread negatively affects environmental standards.”
The governor stated in a statement to Al-Sabah: “Baghdad includes 1,300 slums, between agricultural and residential, that do not meet the legal procedures for obtaining housing,” noting that these slums negatively affected services and caused the environmental standards used in housing to not be maintained.
He pointed out: “The governorate seeks to address these slums through the optimal implementation of Cabinet Resolution No. 320 of 2022, as well as finding alternatives to remove slums in areas not covered by this decision that are located outside the municipal borders of the capital, as well as irregular ones, by compensating their residents or including them in housing units.”
The newspaper quoted the official spokesman for the Ministry of Construction, Nabil Al-Saffar, as saying: “Slums have spread widely in the country and are affecting the implemented projects, services, and infrastructure projects due to the intense pressure they place on them.” He revealed that since 2019, the Ministry has been coordinating with UNICEF in order to solve the problem. The problem of slums in all its forms, with the aim of preparing a real solution to it.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
