Iran, UNEP clinch ozone-depleting gases project as sanctions bite
Shina Ansari, Iran's vice president and head of the Department of Environment, clinched a UNEP-backed project on Tuesday to slash ozone-depleting gases across key sectors, UN Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen announced on the sidelines of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) in Nairobi.
The deal, rolled out with UNEP financial backing during the December 9-12 summit, targets hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) in refrigeration and foams to meet Iran's Montreal Protocol commitments by 2025, Ansari told IRNA reporters, IRNA reported.
She hammered home the sanctions drag. "UN bodies must fast-track green tech transfers and lock in Iran's fair slice of global funding." Droughts, dust storms battering southwest Asia, shrunken wetlands like Hamoun, choked by upstream Afghan dams, and border water woes topped her pitch to Andersen.
Andersen rued the "unjust sanctions" stifling progress but saluted Iran's dust storm initiative. "UNEP's work stays non-political, tied to our shared fate," she said, pushing to "iron out hurdles" for broader ties.
Iran eyes UNEP muscle on cross-border wetlands and eco-friendly oil flaring fixes amid its green diplomacy drive.
Oman's UNEA-7 president Abdullah bin Ali Al Amri, steering the talks for over 170 ministers, thanked Iran for "constructive backing" that smoothed consensus hunts.
"Iran's input keeps us on track," he told Ansari, with days left to seal resolutions on climate, biodiversity, and plastics.
Ansari hailed Oman's chair as a Persian Gulf win, zeroing in on joint dust fights and Gulf of Oman water pacts via regional conventions.
Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Environment Deborah Mlongo Barasa hosted Ansari talks that greenlit a bilateral eco pact in final Foreign Ministry review.
Ansari touted Tehran's edge in ranger training and endangered species safeguards, saying "Huge scope for teamwork."
Barasa sought Iran's heft on global deals and nodded to swift signing, plus her Tehran trip.
UNEA-7, the world's top green decision hub every two years, spotlights planetary meltdown, climate shifts, biodiversity crashes, plastic strangleholds, glacier thaws, algae outbreaks, and AI's eco toll.
Iran's team drives side events on sand and dust storms, plastic treaty drafts, water recycling tech, and sanction carve-outs for pollution curbs.