TEHRAN – Ali Salajegheh, the Department of Environment chief, has urged the world to avoid politicization of the environment, but to uphold the globally recognized “common but differentiated responsibilities”.

He made the remarks at the 4th Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities of Asia Pacific, held virtually on Thursday.

Pointing to the major environmental challenges, he said that “we need to synergize our efforts to achieve a better result to save the planet.

In the region, we are facing several environmental pressing issues and problems which are ever-increasing and exacerbating. Water scarcity is among the most important ones and many member states are trying hard to catch up with it.”

Expressing pleasure, he noted that “there is finally a global tendency to building back better and to formulate a balanced nature.

Also, it is good to see special attention to green recovery which will greatly help to achieve the sustainable development goals and various international instruments’ objectives to preserve and promote biodiversity and ecosystems.

This noble objective will be achieved by creating green jobs, promoting sustainable consumption and production, and healthy circular economy.”

To address these challenges, we have to avoid politicization of the environment and we need to uphold the globally recognized “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities”.

Developed countries have to recognize their commitment to providing means of implementation such as financial assistance and transfer of technologies and the developing countries need to make the best use of their resources, he highlighted.

“Sustainable development now is at the center of the United Nations efforts; however, we need to bear in mind that development cannot be prescribed as a global solution to fit into the local or regional policies.

By the same token, we need to address the unilateral sanctions against some countries including mine, which is an important impediment to financial contributions of those countries to maintain the pace of conservation of nature,” he further emphasized.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Salajegheh stated that “one of the success stories of the Islamic Republic in recent years is the revitalization of Lake Urmia as a vast lake, which has been done with the support and cooperation of friendly countries.

Iran also intends to implement sustainable plans to protect the nature of arid and semi-arid regions through nature-based solutions and lessons learned in the past in the face of climate change and combating sand and dust.

In the context of reducing the effects of sand and dust storms in the region, certainly, we need the support of countries with experience and technology, as well as countries affected and also UNEP and other relevant International Organizations through investment, use of scientific data, and the interaction between science and politics.”

Therefore, on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a leader in combating dust in West Asia, I extend my hands to reach out to the region and beyond to combat sand and dust storms in Asia and Pacific, he concluded.

FB/MG