Official: Glasgow Climate Summit a Failure

Date: 17 November 2021 - 22:12

News ID: ۹۶۷۳۰

TEHRAN – An official says the United Nations’ recent climate conference in the Scottish city of Glasgow (COP26) failed to reach its objectives because of the colonialist approaches of rich countries toward developing nations.
Head of the Iranian government’s Department of Environment Ali Salajegheh said the Glasgow summit turned out to be a failure because developed nations continued to dictate their wishes on countries that still rely on fossil fuels for a bulk of their energy needs.
Salajegheh made the remarks after returning from COP26, an occasion he used to highlight the impacts of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s ability to meet climate goals set under a 2015 global agreement.
In his briefing with reporters in Tehran, the Iranian climate chief accused the developed nations of trying to force others into accepting the huge costs of the global transition to the renewables.
“The question is who created problems for the ozone layer and the greenhouse gases? They (who created them) have now come to the conclusion that the countries with energy resources should pay for improving the climate, this is a colonialist policy,” he said.
Salajegheh said Iran will seek to expand its cooperation with countries that have opposed the unilateral approaches adopted in the West on the issue of environment.
He hailed positions adopted by Qatar and Saudi Arabia in COP26, saying Iran should seek to boost its regional diplomacy on environment.
The Iranian delegation to the Glasgow summit announced on Saturday that it was not satisfied with the language used in the meeting’s draft agreement on phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and instead declared its support for India’s position on the issue.