EU Attends Tehran Environment Conference

A conference on environmental issues between senior officials of Iran and the European Union opened at Tehran's Milad Tower on Tuesday.

A 26-strong European delegation comprising experts from the United Nations and World Health Organization is attending the six-day meeting.

The consultative conference is mainly aimed at exchanging experiences and finding out the causes of environmental woes and impediments in tackling them, as well as mapping the best strategy to address them through joint efforts, Zistonline reported.

Parvin Farshchi, the Department of Environment's deputy for marine tourism, said various issues of mutual interest in the sectors of environment will be discussed at the conference.

"Air pollution, industrial contamination and dust storms are topics of discussion in the first two days of talks," Farshchi said.

"Water management, marine tourism and circular economy focusing on waste and recycling are other categories set for the other days."

Iranian authorities are hopeful that the European delegation will agree to help prepare a holistic and feasible program to help solve the environmental problems.

"Preparing a five-year plan comprising short- and mid-term solutions is the least expected from the ongoing congregation," she said.

According to Farshchi, it is not yet definite whether the EU will provide financial assistance as well or the contribution will be solely limited to technological support.

"However, even if no money is to be directly transferred, the event could act as a medium to attract sponsors from other related foreign administrations," she added.

Regarding the cross-border nature of environmental issues, technical cooperation could significantly help confront environmental challenges, not only at the national but also at the regional scale.

Water scarcity and poor management, soil degradation and contamination, air and water pollution, desertification and dust storms have strongly affected Iran's environment in the past several years.

Iranian authorities hope collaborative discussions, such as the one underway in Tehran, will lead to a way out of the trouble.