Impact of Oil Extraction Industries on Local Communities and the Environment in Hadhramawt, Yemen 

Over the past years, the oil extraction industry and climatic disasters played an important role in environmental degradation and socio-political instability in Yemen. Against the backdrop of these problems, Ettifaq, MMF and CARPO explore the impact of oil extraction in the governorate of Hadhramawt. Livelihoods and the health of local communities are at the focus, as well as the ways environmental pressures exacerbate tensions and hinder coexistence. The overall goal of this project, which will result in workshops, trainings, briefings and a publication, is to raise awareness about Yemen’s environmental stress, addressing of which constitutes a key prerequisite for sustainable peace in the country.

Duration: April 2022 – September 2023 
Team: Dr. Tobias Zumbrägel (contact person), Dr. Marie-Christine Heinze 

Partners: Medical Mercy Foundation (MMF), Ettifaq – for Environmental and Agricultural Consultancies 

Donor: Robert Bosch Foundation, in partnership with Orient Matters and Arab Reform Initiative 

Publications:


Energy Injustice and Its Role for Environmental Peacebuilding

Energy Injustice and Its Role for Environmental Peacebuilding

Ahmad Al-Wadaey, Tobias Zumbrägel and Ali Alamudi

This Report discusses the crucial but understudied impact of oil extraction industries on local communities and the environment in Yemen’s Hadhramawt governorate. By combining conceptual approaches of energy justice and the environmental peacebuilding literature, it provides a novel perspective on how environmental pollution via the oil industry in Yemen creates injustices and grievances and might hamper sustainable peace efforts. Using a mixed method approach of both quantitative and qualitative analyses, the empirical assessment in two districts of Hadhramawt governorate, Tarim and Sah, confirms assumptions about widespread and severe oil pollution negatively impacting the local population. Based on a household survey and additional expert interviews, it further describes potential avenues for remediation that offer recommendations for concrete action on environmental peacebuilding strategies.

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