Jordan’s King Abdullah has said that “war makes threats of water and food scarcity more severe”, in his address to the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, Reuters reports.

“This year’s conference of the parties must recognize even more than ever that we cannot talk about climate change in isolation from the humanitarian tragedies unfolding around us,” he said.

“In a region already on the front lines of climate change, the massive destruction of war makes these environmental threats of water scarcity and food insecurity even more severe,” he said, in a clear reference to fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that resumed after a seven-day truce.