On the occasion of the Ozone Day celebration, 32nd anniversary of Montreal  Protocol and the 20th anniversary of cooperation in the Montreal  Protocol between GIZ- Proklima  and National  Ozone Unit (NOU) of the Department of Environment (DoE)

on Wednesday,  18 September  2019

at the DoE Saloon, Pardisan  Park, Tehran

Doctor  Tajrishi,  Deputy Head of the

Department  of Environment

Doctor  Hajizadeh,

Mr. Siegle,

Members of the Department  of Environment and the National  Ozone Unit,

Dear Members of the Deutsche  Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, who have travelled  from Germany for this special occasion,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today we celebrate  the 20th  anniversary of the cooperation between the Islamic  Republic  of Iran and the Federal Republic  of Germany for the protection of the Ozone Layer.

The  World Ozone day marks a special

occasion in the history of international climate action.  30 years ago on that date, the Montreal Protocol to the Vienna Convention on the protection of the Ozone Layer entered into force.

For over three decades, the Montreal  Protocol has done much more than to help reducing

the ozone hole. It has shown  us how environmental governance can respond  to science  in a fast and effective  manner.

And it is a remarkable  example of international collaboration, where all nations have come together  to address  a shared vulnerability.

The Protocol has been the first  international treaty in the United Nation’s  history that was universally ratified by all 197 UN-Member states. Among  these states are, of course, also Iran and Germany, who have ratified the

treaty in 1990 and 1988 respectively. Together, we substantially contributed to reducing the emission of ozone-depleting substances.

That makes today also a remarkable  symbol

of the  cooperation between our two countries. Iran and Germany have built  up a strong partnership in this field. So far we

successfully implemented five important projects.

And at the moment  the GIZ-Proklima  is active with additional three projects in Iran. So let me just name one of them:

It is called “Cool Contributions Fighting Climate Change” and seeks to promote climate-friendly solutions in the cooling and air conditioning sector.  The project has already shown  remarkable  results by enhancing the capacity  of local cooling technologies and decreasing the use of ozone-depleting substances.

All past and present  projects would  not have been possible without your hard work and support. And I want to wholeheartedly thank you for that! Today we celebrate  your success.

However, it only takes a brief look at the headlines  of the news these days to realize: Fighting for the environment is a full-time job that is never really over.  Many challenges

remain.

To name just a few:

we are facing  burning rainforests, devastating floods, destructive hurricanes and fast

melting glaciers.

In the area of ozone, we have to remain vigilant, to ensure our past successes will last. Only recently,  we discovered a sudden rise in emissions of banned ozone gases.

But today’s challenges go far beyond  the depletion of the ozone layer. First and

foremost, we need to focus  on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The refrigeration and air-conditioning sector can also play an important part in this endeavor.  With the Paris Agreement  and Agenda 2030, we already promote natural refrigerants with low global  warming potential and high energy efficiency.

Further,  this year, the  Kigali Amendment of the Montreal  Protocol entered into force. It

can avoid up to half a degree Celsius  of global temperature rise by the end of the century, while continuing to protect the ozone layer. Germany has ratified the Amendment in 2017 and is beginning to implement it.

We are pleased that Iran is also working on converting to ozone and climate-friendly refrigerants. We strongly encourage  you to ratify  the Kigali  Amendment in a timely manner.

Having said all this:

This is why Germany is a staunch   supporter of the concept of multilateralism. And this is why we want to defend international rules and institutions that are coming under attack at

the moment.

It is one of the reasons  the German government defends  the Paris climate agreement  as much as the nuclear  agreement with Iran: We firmly believe that multilateral action  is the only soil on which  prosperity, stability and peace can grow.

Other cornerstones of this international order would  be the human rights architecture, the humanitarian system  and international institutions like the United Nations.  In this context,  Germany is making  good use of its ongoing membership in the Security  Council to uphold and strengthen these norms  and institutions.

Let me finish by saying: We all know  that the international community can be a slowly moving tanker, when it comes to finding a common  course  of joint  action.

But as the Iranians  say: