Iran offers to assist drafting global treaty on plastic pollution at COP17 side meeting

Iran has expressed readiness to help draft a global treaty on plastic pollution, the announcement coming during a meeting held on the sidelines of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia. The meeting brought together Hamid Zohrabi, deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment for Natural Environment and Biodiversity, and officials involved in negotiations on the plastics treaty.

According to the Department of Environment's public relations office, the session also involved the director general of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organizations, the chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution and the executive secretary of its secretariat at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The Iranian delegation outlined Tehran's national positions, emphasizing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the need to protect countries' right to development. It also called for adequate and predictable financial resources, technology transfer and capacity-building support for developing countries, warning against imposing uniform and unrealistic obligations on nations with different economic conditions and infrastructure. The delegation underscored that the future treaty should adopt a realistic and implementable approach, allowing countries to choose measures suited to their national priorities and circumstances.

COP17 is being held in Yerevan from October 19 to 30, bringing together countries to assess progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and discuss ways to accelerate conservation efforts, mobilize financial resources and strengthen international cooperation.

According to Mehr News, the Iranian side used the meeting to press for flexibility in the emerging plastics agreement, arguing that obligations should reflect the varying capacities of participating states.