World should get prepared for emerging problem of dust storms: Ecuadorian official

Speaking to IRNA, she said that Ecuador has now big problems regarding land degradation and desertification and this can cause sand and dust storms in the future.

'There are desertification problems in Chile and Peru, countries next to Ecuador and we want to prevent the phenomena from causing trouble for us in the future,” the official added.

She said: “We had serious droughts last year and we had about nine months without rain and it has paved the way for desertification of our country; we want to find the best measures to be applied to prevent the problem.”

There have been studies on the issue of desertification, but it is important for different countries to unite not only in this region that is now suffering sand and dust storms but also in the globe to combat sand and dust storms, Chiriboga added.

She referred to dust storms in the South America resulting from the Sahara Desert and Amazon base and noted: The fact that Iran did not suffer the problem in the past decades, shows the problem of sand and dust storms are emerging problems.

The phenomenon of sand and dust storm is a cross-regional and cross-continental issue that needs to be taken care of and we need to unite to combat it, Chiriboga noted.

She said that Iran has taken a great step to hold the conference and their message have been strong and Ecuador is in agreement with Islamic Republic on the issue.

It is terrible that the US is going to exit the Paris Climate Agreement, because the agreement has worked on for over five years and to suddenly say that they are going to come out of it is a big international problem, Chiriboga added.

She noted: “It is not just about protecting the US citizens; it is about protecting humanity and the next generations and I can say that there have been positive outcome for US President Donald Trump declaration.”

Elaborating the positive outcomes of Trump threatening to exit the Paris Climate Agreement, Chiriboga said: “The US population came out and said that they want the agreement and at the same time it has helped the climate change to be discussed at a different level and at the dinner table discussions; families all over the world discuss the issue of climate change now in their dinner table.”

This has generated a big conscious movement worldwide, she added.

Chiriboga noted that there are lots of locks to get out of the Paris agreement and it is not something to happen tomorrow and hopefully the next presidential elections in the US, will change the US approach and till that time, local governments can take action against Trump decision.

Interview by Hamdollah Emadi Heydari

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