On the occasion of the World Environment (WED) 2010, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.I.), Ms. Consuelo Vidal participated in the 4^th National Conference on the Environment at Tehran University on 8 June 2010.

In her remarks, Ms. Vidal noted the theme of WED 2010 and that the year has been also themed by the UN as the International Year for Biodiversity to highlight the fact that the incredible variety of life on Earth is in danger; species are becoming extinct at the fastest rate ever recorded; and that from frogs to gorillas, from huge plants to tiny insects, thousands of species are in jeopardy.  She reminded that while the theme of this year’s WED echoes the call of the global community to stop this mass extinction and raise awareness about the vital importance of the millions of species that inhabit our planet, it is with great concern to note that biodiversity loss is not the only environmental challenge that the world is facing.

The UN Resident Coordinator in the I.R.I. highlighted the commitment expressed by the Government of Iran to safeguarding the environment and reversing the trends in environmental degradation by ratifying a majority of global environmental conventions and the incorporation of environmental concerns into the national planning frameworks. She expressed delight to note that, in Iran, the national stride to combat environmental degradation has long been assisted by the UN system. As a result, over the past decades, various UN agencies have provided technical assistance and policy advice to national partners through a myriad of programmes which have been growing both in size and in variety. ‘These interventions in Iran have been in the area of environment have covered capacity building under the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), technical studies, national conservation approaches in managing natural resources and balancing development concerns towards environmental sustainability’, she noted.

Ms. Vidal referred to the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the current portfolio of which through UN agencies in Iran has secured about $30 million of its resources along with more than $130 millions in the form of Government co-funding. Ms. Vidal underlined that some of these initiatives have assisted Iran in fulfilling its reporting and other commitments under MEA, while many others have provided support to establish new approaches to environment and natural resource management, promote ecosystem-based management of water basins, systematize environmental assessments, mainstream biodiversity into development planning, address the poverty-environment nexus, promote energy efficiency and combat desertification and land degradation.

The UN Resident Coordinator also referred to a number of success stories through carrying out joint projects to address the environmental challenges in Iran to the extent that they can be shared with many countries at regional and international levels and hoped in her role as the UN Coordinator that the UN family’s assistance in line with impressive national efforts could further address the environmental challenges in I.R.I.  She referred to the Conference and said that she was delighted to see that in addition to the efforts led by the Government, many researchers, students, academia, and a number of private businesses are concentrating their joint efforts to address these challenges.

She concluded her remarks by underlining, ‘There is no room for complacency as there is much more to be done and the UN system in Iran will stand ready to assist the country in its journey towards achieving sustainable environmental development’.

Following the opening of the Conference by the UN Resident Coordinator, Vice President and Head of the Iranian Department of Environment (DOE), Mr. Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh delivered his remarks as well. WED is commemorated every year from 5-12 June in I.R.I. as the Environment Week, each of the days of which has been themed.