Iraq Strengthens Integrity and Environmental Justice: Anti-Corruption and Arbitration Initiative Enters New Phase
With a 14-place leap in global Transparency Index, the country moves to tackle corruption linked to climate, environment, and natural resources
In a move towards transforming how Iraq fights corruption and protects its natural resources, the Government of Iraq and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with financial support from the European Union, today launched the second phase of the Anti-Corruption and Arbitration Initiatives (ACAI II). The initiative aims to help the new government strengthen institutional integrity and protect Iraq’s natural resources through environmental justice and digital innovation.
A Transparency Turnaround
Phase I of ACAI (2021-2025) helped set the stage for one of Iraq’s major recent governance wins: a 14-place rise in the 2024 Transparency Index, the country’s strongest jump in over a decade. Along with the Government of Iraq’s agenda to fight against corruption, the initiative trained judges, investigators, and legal professionals; monitored corruption trials; supported journalists and civil society in advocacy and investigative reporting and helped modernize arbitration and mediation frameworks that are critical for investment and economic stability
Anti-Corruption Meets Climate Survival
Backed by €4.5 million in EU funding, the new phase of ACAI takes Iraq’s anti-corruption fight into one of its most vulnerable and consequential arenas, the environment. From water and land management to pollution control, licensing, and climate-related investments, the initiative zeroes in on corruption that directly affects people’s lives, the quality of their air, the safety of their drinking water, and the future of their farmland.
During the launch, the First Deputy Chairman of the Federal Integrity Commission, Dr. Mazhar al-Jubouri, stated: “Combating corruption, desertification, and environmental pollution have become critical issues that can no longer be treated as marginal matters. They are closely linked to the future and lives of generations and countries, and to the paths of development, reconstruction, and investment.” He added: “The second phase of the project will witness significant expansion, including the incorporation of environmental justice, the development of a national environmental integrity system, and the strengthening of oversight and judicial capacities in cases related to natural resources and pollution.”
“ACAI II is strategically aligned to Iraq’s national reform priorities, and Iraq’s international obligations under the Paris Agreement.” said Klemens Semtner, the Ambassador of the European Union to Iraq. “The project is also fully synchronized with the European Union’s “Greening Iraq” agenda. This is not just an anti-corruption project, it is a governance, climate and justice project.”
To make integrity tangible, the programme will establish Iraq’s first National Environmental Integrity System, a coordinated mechanism to detect and prevent abuse across climate and natural-resource sectors. It will also create a national database of environmental and climate disputes, helping citizens and institutions track cases and ensure accountability. Beyond the courtroom, mediators and arbitrators will be trained to resolve green-investment and environmental cases more efficiently, while investigative journalists will be supported to expose environmental crimes that too often go unpunished.
Recognizing that communities bear the brunt of environmental harm, ACAI II will offer free legal aid clinics for those affected, alongside digital whistleblowing and transparency tools that allow citizens themselves to report wrongdoing. Together, these measures redefine what it means to fight corruption, not only in government offices, but in the rivers, fields, and cities where Iraq’s future is being shaped.
These efforts place Iraq among the first countries in the region to explicitly link anti-corruption enforcement with climate governance. The project aims to support empowering communities who are disproportionately affected by corruption and climate crises through making sure that their voices are heard, their concerns are accounted and mechanisms for active citizenry are enabled.
A High-Level Commitment to Protecting Iraq’s Future
The launch event brought together senior officials from the Federal Commission of Integrity, the EU Delegation, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Ministry of Environment, the National Investment Commission, and leading legal and environmental experts.
UNDP emphasized that ACAI II represents the next evolution of Iraq’s integrity efforts, one that connects transparency to people’s daily lives.
“When corruption drains a river or poisons a field, it steals from every Iraqi,” said Titon Mitra, UNDP Resident Representative in Iraq. “ACAI II is about defending people’s right to clean water, healthy land, and accountable institutions – and restoring trust between citizens and the state.
A New Era for Integrity in Iraq
By integrating anti-corruption reforms with climate and environmental justice, ACAI II positions Iraq at the forefront of governance innovation in the Middle East. It signals a national shift towards long-term transformation and a recognition that the fight against corruption is also a fight for sustainable development, investor confidence, and the wellbeing of all Iraqis.
(Source: UNDP)
