TEHRAN – Iran’s Department of Environment (DOE) chief, Issa Kalantari, and France’s ambassador to Iran, Philippe Thiebaud, discussed increased cooperation on environmental issues during a meeting held in Tehran on Monday.

Greenhouse gas emission and climate change were the two main topics of their discussion, Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.

“Confronting climate change requires a global commitment, precipitation in our country decreased by 20 percent over the past ten years due to the climate change,” Kalantari for his part said. 

“In fact, low rainfall leads to temperature raise, which result in the need for more water and eventually drought hits the country. Iran is among the first victims of climate change in the world,” he added. 

Referring to Paris Agreement, he noted, “We have complied with all our commitments to reduce carbon emissions by 4 percent before its final approval, but unfortunately the European Union is committed to sanctions.”

“The European Union did not even agree to provide us the fossil fuel reduction technologies due to sanctions, which has led to an increase in ozone levels in the capital’s air,” he lamented.

Iran spent over $3 billion on environmental issues, which has not been fully efficient due to sanctions, he regretted.

He went on to say that sanctions can lead to water and food stress, the spread of sand and dust storms as well as air pollution. The sanctions also cut off environmental co-operation.

“French car manufacturing companies have stopped cooperation in producing Euro 5 engines, which could reduce fuel consumption of 85 million liters to 60 million liters per day,” he highlighted.

“Therefore, some 7 percent less carbon would have been generated and ultimately prevent climate change,” he added.

“We will do our best, but the sanctions are deterrent; without sanctions, over 12 percent of carbon emission can be curbed,” he stated.

He further called on the European Union and French officials to cooperate with Iran in environmental issues.

The two sides emphasized the need for further efforts to resolve national and international environmental issues.

FB/MG