A Report of International Conference on Combatting Dust Storm

Tehran has just hosted international confab on combatting dust storm on July3-5 with the participation of 43 countries, various UN agencies, scientists and experts.

The conference was held in the wake of Iran’s proposed resolution on December 21, 2016 under the title ‘Confronting Dust Storm’ which was approved after two and a half months talk by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s mission in New York with the consensus of all countries in the second committee of the UN general assembly. During the international conference, the ministers and representatives of the participating countries exchanged experiences and transferring solutions and studying the challenges related to dust storm phenomenon.

One of the problems which have gripped some of the Iranian cities and a number of the world cities for the past decade is the spread of dust storm which has intensified as a result of environment warming and climate change. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s President Hassan Rohani, in the inaugural ceremony of the Conference on Combating Dust Storm, Challenges and Solutions said: today, the issue of dust storm, like many environmental issues, has gone beyond national boundaries, and have turned into regional and even global issue. This has endangered the life of people in West and East Asia and North Africa and in many other regions of the world. 

In his speech in the inaugural ceremony, the UN deputy Secretary General Hu lian shoo, also noted that the dust storm does not observe political boundaries, saying: Desertification has led to migration in many places over the past 10 years, and in the coming years, it will eliminate 17% of GDP in some of the world's countries. Desertification and dust storm have also affected the health, economic and social welfare in West Asia and elsewhere in the world. The phenomenon of dust storm has challenged sustainable development of various countries and has become an obstacle to achieving the goals of 2030. For this reason, getting the participation of various governments for resolving this problem is the key goal of the international conference on dust storm.

Abdul Rahman Al-Awdi, the executive secretary of the Regional Rapid Organization, also pointed out the importance of Tehran Conference and said: In the present situation, we need to seriously consider the dust issue. Only in parts of the world which have proper vegetation there is no dust storm, so water resources management is important in controlling dust storms. Al-Awdi continued: West Asia is the only place in the world that has many deserts and it is necessary to play close attention to this issue.  

The Iranian president also said: "Despite the fact that the source of some of the dust storms in Iran is internal but the source of the external dust is not comparable to the internal one; so that 20% of the dust storm in our country is internal and 80% of it is external.” Rohani added: Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are among the countries which are the source of dust storm in West Asia and are pouring into Iran. And sometimes during 24 hours 8 million cubic meters of soil is replaced with a dust storm and this means endangers life and health of people, as well as agriculture, people’s gardens and Iran’s environment. 

President Rouhani stressed that he could not be indifferent to what is damaging the environment and noted: "In our region, a country has plans to construct 22 dams in its program; it can have very devastating effects on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. And it can also affect Iraq, Iran and many countries. Therefore, one cannot be indifferent to its destructive effects. Construction of a big number of dams in northern and southern Afghanistan can affect the provinces of Khorasan and Sistan-Baluchistan and if Hamun Lake dries up, not only the eastern provinces of Iran would suffer but also the people of Afghanistan will suffer and if no solution is thought for controlling sand storm, people of the region will be forced to emigrate and the centers of human civilization in the region, agriculture and people's lives will be eradicated. Therefore, both the regional countries and international organizations are responsible.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s government considers domestic action necessary and will continue this path by restoring lakes, wetlands, preventing desertification by planting seedlings and mulching, and improving the living conditions of lakes and wetlands. But any success in this area needs regional and international cooperation. The Tehran Conference was held with such a purpose. In this regard, four technical and specialized meetings were held with the cooperation of all participating countries, the UN agencies as well as scientists and experts of dust storm at global level. At the end of these meetings, suggestions were raised to be used in the future by the UN.

At the meetings, the participants also emphasized on the necessity of international attention to the issue of dust storm and the need to promote the sustainable management of land, water and soil, especially in arid and semi-arid regions such as Iran. Emphasis on the importance of protecting people’s health against the adverse effects of dust storm, the necessity to inform people of the magnitude and effects of dust storm were among other topics discussed at the meetings.

Among the important suggestions was the emphasis on the fact that all countries provide accurate and up-to-date information on their dust storm to make the right decisions. Use of technological innovation, transfer of resources and inclusion of inter-granular activities were among other proposals of the meeting which can help reduce the effects of dust storm. The other important point was to increase participation and cooperation of people in confronting the impacts of dust storm by raising public awareness to this issue and finally emphasized the need for the formation of activities that make the issue of dust storm the center of world attention.

The participants of Tehran conference, in addition to participating in meetings, on the second day of the meeting paid a visit to Khuzestan province which has suffered the most damage of dust storm in the recent years. The Undersecretary of  UN Secretary-General and the UN Environment program Erik Solheim, welcomed the actions taken by the Islamic Republic and the revitalization of the Hor al-Azim wetland and planting of seedlings in the southeast of Iran, and appreciated the efforts made. Solheim said: as long as I had not seen the area closely, the dimensions of the issue were not clear to me, but the current situation shows Iran's efforts to cope with the sources of dust storm.

The Tehran conference which was the first international summit on dust storm ended on July 5, 2017 with the approval of the statement. The Tehran International Conference on Combating Dust Storm ended with submission of the text of two statements and a comprehensive report on combating dust storm by Iranian government to the UN General Assembly and the world environment ministers. In view of the emphasis at the ministerial statement on the need for a global determination to deal with dust storm, this action could be used to prepare mechanisms and frameworks by the United Nations and its affiliated agencies to resolve the issue in regional and international dimensions and will also increase cooperation among countries.

On the whole, it can be said that the first conference on combatting dust storm provided the opportunity to turn this issue from a regional, national, local and even urban debate to a regional issue of interest. The presence of 43 countries hosted by Iran, as well as various UN agencies and scientists and experts in this field is a milestone in controlling and confronting dust storm in Iran, the region and the world.

FK/RM/SS