TEHRAN – The head of the Department of Environment (DOE) in separate meetings with the United Nations, Maldivian, and Pakistani officials explored avenues to expand collaborations in the environment sector. 

The meetings were convened on the sidelines of the ninth session of the Committee on Environment and Development (CED9), held from July 1-3 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Meeting Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Ansari highlighted the destructive impacts of war, and unilateral sanctions on the country, calling for enhancing of international ties, and lifting of sanctions, while urging the UN to help establish peace and stability in the region.

Sanctions have restricted the Iran’s access to modern technologies, financial resources, and international facilities associated with environmental conventions, which have made it more difficult to tackle environmental challenges, she noted. 

Iran has consistently adhered to the international obligations and, as a party to fifteen international environmental conventions, considers itself committed to implementing the requirements of these conventions, Ansari added.

Highlighting the transboundary environmental challenges like climate change and dust storms, she said that environmental issues know no political borders. Many of these challengesaffectall countries in a region, concurrently, the same asUS-Israel illegalattackson petrochemical and oil facilities in Iran which led to water, soil, and air pollution in both the country and the region.

Stressing that environmental protection is impossible without peace and international cooperation, Ansari called for UN and other organizations to have a more effective role in making peace, lowering tensions in the world, particularly West Asia, noting that peace is a prerequisite for conserving environment, and realizing sustainable development.

For her part, Alisjahbana lauded Iran’s leadership role in regional initiatives related to dust storms, and expressed hope that the peace and stability in the region would help enhance cooperation with Iran in different fields like natural hazards, sand and dust storms, and landslide in the near future. 

The Iranian official also held a meeting with Ali Shareef, the Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy of the Republic of Maldives, who was also the chair of the 9th session of the UN ESCAP Committee on Environment and Development.Both parties underlined the need to enhance joint efforts in different fields of environment.

Conducting a meeting with Sherry Rehman, chairperson of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination in Pakistan, the two sides discussed bolstering cooperation in different environmental sectors including climate change, biodiversity preservation, wildlife trafficking, the exchange of expertise, and technical capacities.

The officials also discussed the implementation of collaborative regional programs, like conducting joint projects in the Makkoran Coast, and agreed on designating focal points to follow up on the agreements andput the plans into action. 

Referring to 31 UN Climate Change Conference, which is planned to take place in Turkey from November 9 to 20, the two sides highlighted the significance of fostering cooperation among regional countries on shared challenges, focusing on climate change adaptation, climate finance, and technology transfer.

----------------- ‘Inaction exacerbates war impacts’

Addressing the CED9, Ansari highlighted that remaining silent in the face of environmental destruction caused by warmongers is the same as accepting a threat that will, sooner or later, impact everyone.

The environment is the first silent victim of war and the last to recover from its consequences. Nature does not recognize the end of armed conflict. Environmental destruction may continue to undermine human health, food security, water resources, and biodiversity for decades after the guns fall silent,” the official noted.

Elaborating on transboundary environmental challenges such as climate change, air and marine pollution, biodiversity loss, land degradation, dust and sand storms, and waste management challenges, Ansari underlined that environmental destruction resulting from war and military aggression is the most severe and inhumane damage to the environment, as the impacts of these brutal attacks trigger a profound threat to the entire planet.

“When war targets the environment, the victim is not merely one nation—it is the shared heritage of humanity. Therefore, protecting the environment must become a common global responsibility; the aggressors must be held accountable for their crimes and provide full compensation for the environmental damage they have caused. Effective implementation of this principle not only serves justice for the affected State but also plays an essential role in preventing the recurrence of such devastation.”

Referring to some of the gravest war crimes and environmental catastrophes caused by the warmongering of major powers in the region in the past decades, she said that over the past year, the US-Israel coalition has imposed two illegal wars against Iran.

They deliberately targeted Minab School, the girls’ sports club in Lamerd, oil facilities, drinking water infrastructure, and residential areas, which constitute grave crimes that demand a unified response from the civilized and freedom-loving nations of the world, Ansari highlighted.

“The very initiation of these acts of aggression constituted a blatant violation of the fundamental principles of the civilized international order. Equally disturbing has been the silence and inaction of the international institutions entrusted with safeguarding peace and justice.

Carbon emissions equivalent to the annual emissions of sixty countries generated within only the first two weeks of the attacks, serious damage to the ecologically sensitive waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, reckless attacks against peaceful nuclear facilities, and widespread destruction of biodiversity are only some of the most significant consequences, whose impacts will extend far beyond Iran’s borders.

For this reason, protecting the environment during armed conflicts is not merely a moral obligation; it is a binding obligation under international law that must be respected and implemented with greater determination.

The international community needs to recognize environmental security as an essential pillar of international peace and security. Lasting peace cannot exist without a healthy environment, and environmental destruction anywhere in the world can generate consequences that transcend national boundaries,” Ansari further noted.

The official urged the international community to strengthen international mechanisms to prevent environmental destruction during armed conflicts, assess environmental damage, document environmental impacts, ensure accountability of aggressors, and secure effective compensation.

She went on to announce Iran’s commitment to regional cooperation for conserving biodiversity, combating climate change and air pollution, protecting marine ecosystems, sustainably managing natural resources, addressing dust and sand storms, and promoting the exchange of knowledge and technology despite these immense challenges, and decades of unjust unilateral sanctions that have deprived my country of access to the financial and technological mechanisms established under international environmental conventions.

The CED9 brought together ministers, leaders, and policymakers to reinforce regional cooperation to address key environmental and development challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, sustainable resource management, and disaster risks.

The session consisted of a ministerial segment on the first day, followed by a senior official segment on the second and third days. A series of associated events, side events, and exhibitions was organized to foster in-depth dialogue and facilitate substantive exchanges among participants.

MT/MG