Publication
Omar Shaban Ismail · PalThink Library · 2023
A 2023 PalThink policy analysis paper examining climate change repercussions in Palestine, with focus on Gaza. It identifies the structural disadvantages that prevent standard climate adaptation approaches — occupation, blockade, dysfunctional institutions — and recommends three priority investment areas: desalination, renewable energy, and agricultural adaptation, while concluding that meaningful climate resilience is inseparable from ending the blockade.
A 2023 PalThink policy analysis paper examining climate change repercussions in Palestine, with focus on Gaza. It identifies the structural disadvantages…
Palestine faces climate change under conditions of structural disadvantage that most policy analyses fail to adequately capture. The standard discourse on climate adaptation assumes the existence of functional state institutions capable of implementing mitigation strategies, access to international climate finance, and a stable territorial base. Palestine has none of these. Understanding climate change repercussions in Palestine therefore requires integrating the occupation, the blockade, and the structural underdevelopment of Palestinian institutions into the analysis.
The empirical starting point is the Mediterranean climate zone, which scientific projections consistently identify as one of the world's most climate-vulnerable regions. Temperature increases in the Eastern Mediterranean are projected to exceed the global average. Precipitation is declining, with rainfall patterns becoming more erratic and more intense. Sea-level rise threatens Gaza's coastal aquifer — already contaminated and overexploited — with saltwater intrusion that could render it permanently unusable.
In the Gaza Strip, the climate crisis intersects with existing humanitarian catastrophe. The territory's water infrastructure was already in crisis before climate change intensified the pressure. Gaza's aquifer, its sole freshwater source, is being drawn down at twice the recharge rate. Seawater intrusion has contaminated over 95% of the supply. Under projected climate scenarios, this trajectory can only worsen.
Agriculture in Gaza — once a significant economic sector, contributing to livelihoods and food security — has been devastated by the blockade, which restricts access to agricultural inputs, limits export markets, and has shrunk the cultivated area. Climate-driven shifts in temperature and rainfall patterns will further reduce the viability of key crops, including citrus, olives, and vegetables.
The policy analysis identifies three priority areas for climate-resilience investment: (1) desalination infrastructure, which is the only viable long-term solution to Gaza's water crisis under climate scenarios, but which requires significant energy — itself a scarce resource under the blockade; (2) renewable energy, which could simultaneously address the electricity crisis and provide the power needed for water desalination, and which is technically feasible in a territory with high solar radiation; (3) agricultural adaptation, including drought-resistant crops, water-efficient irrigation, and greenhouse cultivation.
The fundamental constraint is political. None of these investments can be fully realized while the blockade restricts imports of infrastructure materials, limits energy supply, and prevents Gaza from accessing international climate finance mechanisms. Climate adaptation in Gaza is, therefore, inseparable from the political question of ending the blockade.
Topic: International Economy — Water · agriculture · energy · health — Original source