(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) By Shaima Al-Ruwaished
KUWAIT, Nov 6 (KUNA) -- Kuwait marked on Thursday the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.
The global community celebrates this event based on a UNGA resolution proposed by Kuwait in 2001 in reflection of the Gulf State's keenness on preventing the use of the environment as a weapon, such as in the case of the Iraqi invading armies, which torched 737 oil wells in 1991, while retreating from Kuwait.
On November 5, 2001, the UN General Assembly declared November 6 of each year as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (A/RES/56/4).
Kuwait also extinguished the last oil well fire on November 6.
Kuwait's efforts in putting out its oil well fires showcased solidarity among its people against environmental catastrophes.
In his June speech to the Earth Summit in June 1992 on Rio De Janeiro, the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah stressed the importance of rehabilitating the environment of Kuwait following the devastating oil well fires, which not only impacted the country, but the whole region and the world.
In November of 2002, the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, then first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed on the first anniversary of the International Day, Kuwait's gratitude to the UN for its recognition, saying that it was a triumph of the forces of good against evil.
In 2018, Kuwait hosted the very first of its kind initiative at the UNSC on the impact of weapons on the environment with specific attention to the catastrophic effects on the environment.
In 2024, the Foreign Ministry of Kuwait affirmed that the world's recognition of the occasion was a crucial basis for peace and sustainable development.
The statement expressed Kuwait's support for the UN, partners, and agencies' efforts in facing environmental challenges. (end)
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