Al-Assad excluded from COP28 over eco-damage

Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, is excluded from COP28 in the UAE for his regime which caused “extensive devastation and damage caused to the environment”

According to a report by Sir Howard Morrison KC, a former International Criminal Court judge, Al-Assad’s regime has used chemical weapons during attacks in the civil war. 

After rejoining the Arab League, the Syrian president received an invitation to the Dubai summit in May.

This was set to be his first public appearance at a global conference since the civil war in Syria began in 2011. 

Sir Howard also stated that inviting al-Assad was ‘inappropriate’, as he and his regime caused ‘an obvious and ongoing environmental disaster, and humanitarian disaster, in Syria’. 

He stated to Sky News that humanitarian rights violations in Syria are documented, but “because of the way the country has been systematically devastated, we have also got to consider the huge environmental impact as a result of the devastation of the cities, the creation of waste and the deliberate attacks on the oil facilities”. 

A group of Syrians who fled their country asked for the report, which will be shown in parliament on Wednesday. 

The report says that the cities were destroyed and a lot of ‘conflict rubble’ piled up, which can have dangerous elements that can pose environmental risks. 

It also urges countries to cancel Al-Assad’s COP28 invitation and to make sure the conference addresses the ‘widespread environmental violations’ done by the Syrian president.