Feeling the Heat: Adapting to Climate Change in the Middle East and Central Asia

Abstract

Climate change is among humanity's greatest challenges, and the Middle East and Central Asia (ME&CA) region is on the frontlines of its human, physical, and economic ramifications. Much of the region lies in already harsh climate zones, where global warming exacerbates desertification, water stress, and rising sea levels. This trend entails deep economic disruptions, endangers food security, and undermines public health-with ripple effects on poverty, inequality, displacement, and conflict. While recognition of these challenges is high in the ME&CA region, with nearly two-thirds of its population perceiving climate change as a global emergency (UNDP and others 2021), decisive and broad based action has yet to follow.