TEHRAN - Tehran is playing host to an international conference on combating sand and dust storms with representatives of more than 50 countries in attendance.

The two-day event is held based on resolution number A77571 of the United Nations General Assembly in 2022, with the support of the United Nations.

 Climate change has caused serious challenges to life on the earth with sand and dust storms inflicting harm to the world's biological and environmental resources.

According to surveys, 150 countries are affected by SDSs, and most of these countries are located in Africa and Asia.

Addressing the conference, President Ebrahim Raisi said environmental degradation is a global concern and is not related to a specific climate and country.

“God has placed a law in nature that while humans use water, soil, air, and space, they must respect the laws governing nature,” he pointed out.

All governments and international organizations should consider themselves obliged to these laws, Raisi stressed.

“The issue of water management is very important as the improper use of water resources is undoubtedly one of the main causes of sand and dust storms.”

He went on to say that certain countries only think about industrial development, which is an oppression of humanity and the environment.

He referred to consensus and convergence as the solution to finding a cure for this common pain

Environmental protection should not be influenced by political issues, because in this case, it will lead nowhere, the President highlighted.

Therefore, “yes” to development and “no” to environmental degradation has been emphasized in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Raisi said.

Ali Salajeqeh, the chief of the Department of Environment, also delivered a speech, saying that operations will soon start by Iran, Iraq, and Syria to combat sand and dust storms.

“By 2050, the problem of water shortage will affect three-quarters of the population on the planet, that is, five billion people will suffer from water shortage for one month a year.

The last article published in 2023 shows that in the last 30 years, many of the great lakes of the world dried up, indicating that the sources of sand and dust storms are increasing.”

In July, Salajeqeh said unilateral sanctions take a healthy environment away from nations.

Applying unilateral and illegitimate coercive sanctions is not only a big obstacle to the economic and social development of countries, but also deprives the right to enjoy a healthy environment by overshadowing the principles contained in the United Nations Charter and international laws, he explained.

He made the remarks at the 14th International Convention on Environment and Development, which was held in Havana, Cuba.

The country is deprived of access to global environmental funds including the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and many new equipment and technologies have been denied.”

The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, like many other governments, has not only included the principle of environmental protection in its Constitution but also emphasized the environment as the main focus of balanced development in its national plans, Salajeqeh highlighted.

“Carrying out projects such as planting of mangrove forests in coastal areas in order to sequester carbon; recycling carbon dioxide and reusing it in various industries, especially petrochemical and refinery industries; implementing projects to collect and process flare gases in oilfields; creating and setting up a bank of biological and cellular samples as a method of out-of-habitat protection of the genetic resources of the country's wildlife; and paying special attention to the issue of microplastics and a serious determination to reduce their release are on the government's agenda.”

Measures taken so far

To deal with sand and dust storms, positive measures have been taken inside the country.

In July 2022, Tehran played host to a conference of ministers and officials from 11 countries, aiming to boost cooperation for resolving extant environmental problems, especially sand and dust storms.

Environment ministers of Iraq, Armenia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Syria, and Qatar, as well as deputy ministers of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan along with delegations from Turkey and Uzbekistan, participated in the event which was held with the theme of “Environmental Cooperation for a Better Future.”

Addressing the opening ceremony, President Ebrahim Raisi emphasized that the preservation of the environment is essential and an inevitable priority.

Raisi had earlier obliged the Department of Environment to diligently pursue the solution of sand and dust storms through diplomacy and international forums, as well as interaction with neighboring countries.

“Conservation of the ecosystem and environment, which is a global concern, especially for countries of the region, is an inevitable priority today. If the environment is not safe and peaceful for people, the development will not be in its proper place and it will even become a threat to human health,” Raisi stated.

According to studies, eight large sand and dust storm hotspots stretching to 270 million hectares in neighboring and Persian Gulf countries are affecting Iran.

Regional maps show that Saudi Arabia produces the highest level of particulate matter, followed by Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, and the UAE, respectively.

A ten-year plan has been prepared to curb internal sources of sand and dust storms.

The internal dust sources are estimated at 34.6 million hectares, generating an average amount of 4.22 million tons of dust per year, about 1.460 million hectares are dried wetlands.

In recent years, about €370 million has been spent by the National Development Fund to combat SDSs, which had good results, but it seems that the annual credit is declining as conditions improve.

Letizia Rossano, the director of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), said in June 2022 that Iran is really at the forefront of understanding the problem of sand and dust storms as well as dealing with it.

More than 80 percent of the entire populations of Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and the Islamic Republic of Iran are exposed to medium and high levels of poor air quality due to sand and dust storms," she noted.