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NOVEMBER 2025- Iran\u2019s Vice President Shina Ansari meets with the Turkish delegation during her visit to Bel\u00e9m for the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil- (Photo by Ahmet Okur\/Anadolu via Getty Images).<\/p>\n
Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Drought, floods, heatwaves, wildfires and sand and dust storms. <\/p>\n
As the United Nations Climate Change Conference<\/a> in Bel\u00e9m wraps up, Iran is grappling with a range of environmental problems that climate change is making worse. <\/p>\n Across Iranian provinces, severe water shortages have led to periodic cuts and rationing – with reservoirs supplying major cities such as Tehran and Mashhad nearly empty. Years of consecutive drought and record low precipitation levels have prompted authorities to turn to cloud seeding<\/a> for help with rainfall. <\/p>\n But studies indicate that when<\/a> too much water is extracted from the ground, the soil collapses and becomes compacted. It can then no longer absorb rain, and water runs off instead of refilling aquifers, increasing the risk of floods \u2013 an occurrence that<\/a> happened in a number of western provinces in recent days. <\/p>\n In Mazandaran Province up north, wildfires have been burning for more than two weeks in the Hyrcanian forests<\/a> – a green belt between the Caspian Sea and the Alborz mountains – driven by heat, wind, and dry vegetation. <\/p>\n Over the summer, in the southern parts of the county in Khuzestan, Sistan and Baluchistan and Bushehr, temperatures surpassed<\/a> 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), making them some of the hottest places on the planet. <\/p>\n Land subsidence – the sinking of land – has become a serious problem<\/a> in places like Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, now among the fastest subsiding areas in the world that are already damaging roads, buildings and schools. <\/p>\n The main drivers of Iran\u2019s environmental challenges are decades of poor management, an inefficient agriculture sector and unsustainable development. Climate change is intensifying the problem, and Iran\u2019s response<\/a> will have consequences that extend beyond its borders across the wider Middle East. <\/p>\n What Happened At COP30 <\/p>\n Iran\u2019s delegation arrived in Bel\u00e9m this month, led by the head of the Department of Environment, Shina Ansari. In her speech<\/a> to the UN summit attendees, Ansari acknowledged the risks the country faces from climate change. <\/p>\n Reports show Iran is warming around twice as fast as the global average, with temperatures expected<\/a> to rise by about 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2030 – a trend that is already adding to the harshness and severity of droughts and heatwaves. <\/p>\n In her COP30 address, Ansari said Iran is taking \u201csome measures\u201d to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including plans to expand solar and renewable energy- in an attempt to lower the reliance on fossil fuels, which the country heavily depends on. <\/p>\n But much of her remarks focused<\/a> on the US and European sanctions on Iran, which she said \u201climit access to modern technology\u201d and \u201cthe foreign investment\u201d the country needs to improve its environment. <\/p>\n Among the reasons behind Iran\u2019s isolation from the West and the international community <\/a>are its nuclear and missile programs, as well as its regional activities.<\/p>\n Ansari also pointed to the 12-day war with Israel in June, saying the attacks on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities<\/a> caused environmental damage<\/a> and significantly added to carbon emissions, especially in the bombarded capital, Tehran. <\/p>\n Back home, the environment official\u2019s trip to COP30 was questioned over costs and expenses, with hardline members of parliament<\/a> accusing Ansari of overspending the budget. However, in statements and social media posts<\/a>, Ansari posted detailed explanations of the costs, rejecting the claims. <\/p>\n But Iran\u2019s history at UN climate change conferences tells a similar story. Last year at COP29 in Azerbaijan, delegates again pointed to sanctions<\/a> \u2013 and the war in Gaza – as reasons for the country\u2019s failure to tackle climate change. <\/p>\n At COP28 in the United Arab Emirates in 2023, Iranian representatives walked out<\/a> of the UN climate talks in \u201cprotest\u201d at the presence of Israeli officials. At the time, the Energy Ministry, who was heading the group, said they left the venue because \u201cIsrael\u2019s participation\u201d was \u201ccontrary to the conference\u2019s goals and guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n A few years before, at COP27 in Egypt<\/a> and at COP26 in the United Kingdom<\/a>, \u201ctechnological and financial\u201d limitations from sanctions were also blamed for Iran\u2019s lack of action towards mitigating climate change. <\/p>\n The Road Ahead <\/p>\n According to the Climate Change Performance Index, which ranks countries<\/a> on their commitment to fighting global warming, Iran is listed among the three worst-performing nations after the United States and just ahead of Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n Iran is considered one of the top ten carbon emitters and is the only country, aside from Yemen and Libya, that has signed but not ratified the landmark Paris Agreement<\/a> aimed at keeping global temperatures from rising beyond a certain level. <\/p>\n The last time the Islamic Republic pledged to reduce<\/a> emissions was in 2015, and it still has not submitted a concrete roadmap for how it plans to commit to the global fight against climate change. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, with next-door neighbour Turkey selected to host<\/a> the following UN climate change summit (COP31), Iran\u2019s environmental problems continue to grow- and its response to climate change hangs in the balance. <\/p>\n