“Yemen’s Safer Reservoir threatens world’s biggest environmental disaster” al-Alimi at the Climate Summit
Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi warned that the Safir oil tank threatens the world’s biggest environmental disaster.
Yemen is one of the countries in the region most at risk of drought, which is another source of fighting over water, al-Alimi said in a speech at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.
“We are meeting today in the face of the food crisis, the high temperature and wars,” he said.
The consequences of climate change are the most serious challenge, particularly in countries suffering from armed conflict, he said.
The head of Yemen’s Presidential Command Council said his country’s resources are being severely affected by climate change.
Since Houthi militias took control of Hodeidah in late 2015, the Safer floating oil tanker and tank off Ras Isa port has been neglected to export oil in Hodeidah on the Red Sea in western Yemen, making the tanker the biggest environmental and economic threat not only to Yemen, but to the entire region.
The tank carries more than 1.1 million barrels of crude oil, its iron structure has been eroded and decomposed, and one of its pipes has been punctured, causing seawater to leak into its engine room; to increase the risk of crude oil leaking from storage tanks; under the Houthis’ neglect.
According to statistics, the environmental, economic and humanitarian costs Yemen would lose if oil leaks from the Safer Floating Tank would be catastrophic by any measure.
About 115 Yemeni islands in the Red Sea will lose their biodiversity, lose their natural habitats, approximately 130,000 traditional Yemeni fishermen will lose their only source of livelihood, and about 900,000 tons of fish stocks in Yemeni waters will be damaged in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Oil spills will eliminate nearly 1,000 fish species in territorial waters, and about 300 coral reefs and 768 algae will disappear due to lack of oxygen.
This comes at a time when the disaster threatens the 1.5 million migratory birds that pass through the Bab al-Mandab region every year, as well as the Yemeni islands and wetlands, which are classified as the second international corridor for migratory hovercraft.
The 170 species of wild and aquatic migratory birds that are found in the wetland reserves and coasts of Aden province are also at risk of death as oil slicks reach the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
The annual UN Climate Change Summit, hosted by Egypt and COP27, kicked off on Sunday in Sharm El Sheik until the 18th of this month.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was elected president of the 27th session of the Climate Conference by “acclamation”.
