APN | Zoom
10-11 September 2025
APN Advocacy and Research Officer took part in the West Asia Regional Consultative Meetings, held on September 10–11, alongside civil society groups accredited by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The meeting was part of the preparatory process for the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7).
During the meeting, she contributed to drafting the regional statement, emphasising the urgent need to spotlight the severe and lasting environmental and natural resource damage inflicted through wars and occupation. Specifically, she highlighted how the environment is systematically weaponised in conflicts throughout the region, including in Gaza, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon. Furthermore, she underscored the vital role of Arab civil society in exposing these violations and advocating for immediate and decisive international intervention.
She further participated in formulating key recommendations within the statement, including:
- Recognising ecocide as an international crime that requires accountability and punishment under international law.
- Calling for the establishment of independent fact-finding missions under UNEP’s auspices to monitor and document environmental violations in occupied and conflict-affected areas.
- Affirming the right to environmental restoration in affected regions as an integral component of environmental justice and human rights.
- Demanding the immediate and comprehensive cessation of international and state support for tactics and policies that weaponise the environment.
