TEHRAN-- Iranian Department of Environment Chief Ali Salajeqeh in a conference with the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Iran Saif Mohammed Al Zaabi highlighted the need to increase local cooperation in order to deal with environmental problems.The concern of dust storms has caused harassment to all individuals of the region, Salajeqeh said, including, the problem can be managed with the cooperation of local countries, Mehr reported on Monday.He referred to the contamination of joint waterways as one of the main ecological obstacles in the area, stressing that this problem can be solved through Ropmi (Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Persian Gulf).
Salajeqeh expressed satisfaction with holding the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) in the United Arab Emirates next year, stating: We hope that holding this top will have good results for the difficulty of environment modification.
The UAE official for his part highlighted that the initial contract previously signed by the environment chiefs of the 2 nations ought to take effect.In July 2022, Tehran played host to a conference of ministers and authorities from 11 countries, intending to boost cooperation for solving extant environmental issues, specifically sand and dust storms.Environment ministers of Iraq, Armenia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Syria, and Qatar, in addition to deputy ministers of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan in addition to delegations from Turkey and Uzbekistan, took part in the occasion which was held with the style of Environmental Cooperation for a Better Future.
Addressing the opening event, President Ebrahim Raisi stressed that the preservation of the environment is important and an inevitable top priority.
A union or an organization for environmental cooperation of West Asian countries must be formed to arrange the required steps.
The establishment of a regional fund for financial support is essential to accomplish the goals of the UN resolutions, he highlighted.Sand and dust storms (SDSs) have actually been pestering the nation for several years and have actually triggered problems in numerous provinces.
According to professionals, natural and human aspects are associated with the incident and severity of this phenomenon which is primarily triggered by excessive usage of water and drying up reservoirs.The internal dust sources are approximated at 34.6 million hectares, producing a typical amount of 4.22 million tons of dust annually, about 1.460 million hectares are dried wetlands.Some 4.23 million tons of dust are raised each year, which means the loss of soil fertility will strike the agricultural sector.All the SDSs sources are not situated in Iran, 300 million hectares in the nearby nations are generating SDSs, which transport dust into Iran.
The total dust density is approximated at about 150 million tons.In reality, the dust is raised from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in the northeast as well as Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan in the south, southwest, and west.Letizia Rossano, the director of the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), stated in June 2022 that Iran is truly at forefront of comprehending the problem of sand and dust storms along with dealing with it.More than 80 percent of the whole 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.MG