TEHRAN – Iranian and Afghan officials have been exploring ways to expand cooperation in areas related to environmental protection, especially border wetlands and rivers.
Ahmad Reza Rahijanzadeh, Deputy Director-General for Marine and Wetlands at the Ministry of Environment, and Mawlawi Matiul Haq Haris, Director-General of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), met in Kabul on Tuesday.
The conference focused on ways to address the impacts of climate change, sharing expertise and knowledge, the Hamoun wetland in Afghanistan (a transboundary wetland on the Iran-Afghanistan border), sand and dust storms caused by wetland drying, wetland water rights, and the implementation of collaborative and international research projects for wetland restoration.
During the meeting, Matiul Haq Khalis emphasized that Afghanistan is severely affected by climate change. “Droughts are increasing and water shortages are forcing people to flee,” he noted. The official called for regional and international cooperation to address the crisis.
Rahijanzadeh expressed Iran’s full readiness to promote cooperation with Afghanistan to combat climate change and its effects, share expertise and train professional staff.
Environmental diplomacy needs to be strengthened
Because they are transnational, many complex environmental issues can be addressed through environmental diplomacy, or negotiations between two or more countries.
IRNA reports that environmental diplomacy is used globally to resolve issues such as conflicts over energy sources, water, and climate change.
The fact that all countries share the same environment makes it necessary to promote environmental diplomacy to resolve conflicts over water resources, environmental pollution, and the effects of climate change.
Environmental diplomacy is an effective tool needed to reduce and eliminate serious impacts by allocating responsibility fairly among the countries involved as they present their national interests and solutions.
Dust storms (DSDs) are a typical example of a meteorological disaster in West Asia, involving many countries, with some countries originating and others affected.
SDS has attacked countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran, and at times affected parts of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and even Afghanistan and Pakistan.
These dust particles have devastating effects on respiratory health and ecosystems, shutting down airports, schools, and offices, impacting power transmission infrastructure, and causing economic losses.
Removing pollution from the Aras River and securing water rights and some wetlands in the Hilmand River are also examples of how environmental policy has been used to resolve conflicts.
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The Treaty of Tehran is a major achievement for the Caspian Sea coastal states to protect the Caspian Sea environment from all sources of pollution, but it also covers the conservation, restoration and protection of Caspian Sea species and habitats.
Therefore, to mitigate the effects of climate change and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we need to strengthen our environmental policies so that Iran and its neighbors can benefit from available resources and secure our rights at the international level.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with other executive agencies such as the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Environment, could establish a center to focus on specific missions, follow up on discussions and goals in line with national interests, and improve the living conditions of citizens through environmental diplomacy.
MT/MG