Degradation of the environment in Arab countries is costing them around five percent of gross domestic product every year, according to a study presented in Manama on Monday.

The report, "Arab Environment: Future Challenges" says Arab countries face a shortage of drinking water and desertification as well as air and sea pollution because of climate change and other problems.

"Climate change, population growth and the rapid pace of urban and economic development in some Arab countries are multiplying ecological risks in the region," the experts said in the study.

The "inadequate exploitation of natural resources is sapping economic development and efforts to reduce poverty" in the Arab world, according to the study, presented to the first annual conference of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development.

The experts estimate "the annual cost of economic degradation in Arab countries reaches an average of five percent of their GDP."

Arab governments "have failed to adopt clear and effective policies to limit the growing cost" of environmental problems, to which the governments allocate "less than one percent of GDP," the report's authors said.

The conference was attended by environment ministers from Bahrain, Lebanon and Jordan as well as several Arab experts.