EU to Help Iran With Climate Funding, Tech

EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete said on Sunday the European Union will provide Iran with technical and financial assistance to cut its carbon emissions.

Speaking on the sidelines of a high-level climate change conference in Tehran, Canete said environmental cooperation between Iran and the EU "is at the highest level".

Senior Iranian officials, including Massoumeh Ebtekar, the head of the Department of Environment, and Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the head of the Management and Planning Organization as well as Gary Lewis, the UNDP resident coordinator in Iran, were present at the meeting.

"The EU Climate Change Committee has been tasked with drafting a memorandum of understanding to be signed with Iran, based on which we will provide financial and technical support to Tehran," he said.

Canete noted that the MoU will be prepared with Iran's help to ensure the country's needs are met.

.@MAC_europa: #EU has delivered its commitments under #JCPOA. @FedericaMog @HassanRouhani @JZarif @ebtekarm @OfficialDOEIran @Iran pic.twitter.com/jcK7WPfBt8

— Gary Lewis (@GaryLewisUN) April 30, 2017

Located in one of the world's most water-stressed regions, Iran has an arid and semi-arid climate that is expected to worsen with the rise in global temperatures.

According to Majid Shafipour, director of the DOE's Center for International Affairs, the average temperature in Iran has increased by 1.8 degrees Celsius since 1750.

"That's higher than the global change, which is 1.1°C," he was quoted as saying by ISNA.

Representatives of 195 countries, including Iran, signed a historic agreement in Paris in December 2015 to curb global emissions of greenhouse gases and limit the planet’s warming to under 2°C, preferably 1.5°C, by 2100.

Iran’s pledge is to decrease emissions by 4% by 2030 but officials say with sufficient international aid, the country can reduce its emissions by 12% in the next 13 years.

Iran accounts for 1.3% of global emissions, which is high compared to other countries because despite Tehran’s increasing emissions over the past few years, the economy has not developed as expected. 

According to Iran’s Meteorological Organization, the country’s greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 3% in the past decade.