Shaheed El Hafed, September 20, 2026 (SPS) – Sahrawi agricultural engineer Taleb Ibrahim stressed that addressing climate change in Western Sahara cannot be limited to indicators such as rising temperatures and declining rainfall, given the fragility of the desert environment and the decades of military and colonial interventions and unsustainable exploitation of its natural resources.
He made Saturday the remarks at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a conference dedicated to presenting the new report by the Sahrawi Observatory for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, entitled “The Plunder Footprint: The Environmental Cost of Natural Resource Exploitation in Western Sahara.” The event was attended by researchers, experts, representatives of international institutions and organizations, civil society actors, and media outlets.
Addressing the current situation, the speaker explained that climate and environmental vulnerability is being exacerbated by the impact of military infrastructure and the growing economic exploitation of the territory. He noted that the Moroccan military wall is not merely a political and military barrier, but also has impacts on the movement of people, herders, and animals, as well as on the connectivity of ecosystems.
He stressed that the energy transition should not become a means of reproducing resource-extraction patterns under new labels, emphasizing the need to view Western Sahara as a fragile ecosystem with natural limits, as a territory inhabited by a people with rights, and as a space requiring genuine environmental protection.
Agricultural engineer Taleb Ibrahim concluded that the climate debate on Western Sahara should move beyond focusing on the amount of clean energy that can be produced and instead address questions concerning the environmental impact of projects, who bears their costs, who benefits from their revenues, their effects on water, soil and biodiversity, and the extent to which they respect the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over their natural resources.
He stressed that addressing climate change in Western Sahara requires an integrated approach combining the protection of ecosystems, curbing the overexploitation of resources, achieving climate justice, and respecting the legal rights of the Sahrawi people. He warned that the “green economy” could become a new cover for continued exploitation at the expense of the environment and the rights of peoples.
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