The 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) which held its final session on December 12, 2023 in Dubai, reached a deal on transitioning away from fossil fuels and creating a loss and damage fund. However, many believe that similar achievements have fallen short of what is needed, the Arab Barometer finds. In its Seventh Waves of surveys (2021-2022), the Arab Barometer asked people from 12 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region on their opinion on the environment and climate change. In the same region, only a small minority names climate change as the most important environmental challenge facing their country, reveal the findings of the survey published on Tuesday. In Morocco, 40% of people believe that water issues are the biggest environmental challenge facing the country. 19% think that it is rather waste management. Most people from the other 11 countries said that water issues are the main environmental challenge facing their countries. Moreover, most people surveyed said that their governments should be making more efforts to address environmental issues. In Morocco, 40% of the people surveyed said that the Moroccan government should be doing more when addressing climate change. «When asked about their government spending priorities in the upcoming year, only small minorities in each country surveyed point to the environment. Education, healthcare, and economic development are higher than the environment on the short-term priorities list», the same source unveiled. According to the survey, to ensure that citizens are not left behind, it will be essential for organizers of future conferences and environmental activists to highlight the link between climate change more generally and the environmental problems the inhabitants of the region are faced with in their everyday life.
