Tehran, Iran, October 30
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
The United Nations has failed to fulfill its commitments under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) program in Iran, Iran’s Vice President for Environment Masumeh Ebtekar told the UN Day conference in Tehran.
Expressing sadness over shortcomings in UN activities in Iran, she urged stronger will from the UN to help Iran under the GEF “which, being a solely environmental issue, cannot be done away with under the vibe of political or economic restrictions,” Trend correspondent reported from the event October 30.
“We have expectations from the UN,” Ebtekar stressed, noting that Iran has already seen the consequences of climate change, including 1.5 to 1.8 degrees Celsius rise in average temperature.
The Iranian environment chief went on to stress the need for the settlement of regional security issues as a prerequisite for the fulfilment of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG).
“In the recent past Iran has been the country to warn the world of impending threats, whose neglect has caused great affliction for all. One example of this was President Hassan Rouhani’s call for World against Violence and Extremism (WAVE) just before the Islamic State (aka IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) sprang up. The other was former president Mohammd Khatami’s call for Dialogue among Civilizations before the 9/11 catastrophe.”
The Islamic State has inflicted heavy damages to environment, Ebtekar recently said during signing a cooperation document with the Defense Ministry.