Valuing environmental and natural resource damages

THE BACKGROUND

More than 700 oil wells were set on fire as the Iraqi forces retreated from Kuwait at the end of the 1990 Gulf conflict, with an estimated 6 million barrels of oil per day burning for nearly ten months. Given the unprecedented magnitude of the environmental damage and scientific uncertainty of long-term effects and remediation prospects, it became evident that monitoring and assessing the impacts of the Gulf War on the environment and public health was of utmost importance.

THE PROJECT

Realizing the unprecedented magnitude of the environmental damage following the first Gulf War, the UN implemented an ambitious program for monitoring and assessing the impacts of the Gulf War on the environment and public health in the Gulf region. FINANCE FOR IMPACT’S director Thierry Senechal provided the UN with technical support in achieving this objective.

Technical assistance was provided to value environmental and natural resource damages suffered as a result of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait: oil pollution; damage to coastlines; damage to fisheries; damage to wetlands and rangelands, etc. a task consisted in the design of a tracking system for ensuring that the funds awarded for restoration and damage mitigation were spent transparently and appropriately.

THE RESULTS

Government claims for damage to the environment, depletion of natural resources, and related matters amounted to approximately USD 85 billion. For monitoring and assessing environmental damage in Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, approximately USD 1 billion was awarded for activities that included shoreline surveys of oil-spill damage (Kuwait and Saudi Arabia); a study of bioaccumulation of oil spill–related pollutants in fisheries stocks (Iran); evaluation of damage to cultural heritage sites caused by oil fi re pollutants (cities in Iran and Syria); studies of pollution in groundwater and springs caused by the presence of refugees (Jordan), etc.