ANTALYA, Türkiye, Nov 11 — Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian told the COP31 climate conference on Wednesday that his country wants compensation for environmental damage caused by US and Israeli strikes, arguing that war damage belongs inside the global effort to fight climate change, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via KRRO

"We expect the global community to establish a genuine and meaningful link between climate commitments in times of peace and responsibility in times of war, to document and assess the environmental damages caused by military aggressions and to develop compensation mechanisms," Pezeshkian said, in remarks delivered during back-to-back speeches by heads of state on the third day of the two-week conference in Antalya.

Iran puts figures on the damage — its own assessments

Pezeshkian put figures on the damage, citing assessments reported by Shafaq News and TRT World: strikes on fuel facilities had released about 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide — roughly 500,000 tonnes from attacks on facilities in Asaluyeh, in southern Iran, on March 18, and about one million tonnes from strikes on fuel storage tanks near Tehran on March 7. These are Iranian figures and were not independently verified in the reports reviewed.

Source: Life News Agency (Reuters, Shafaq News, TRT World, Mehr)

He also reported damage to protected natural areas and environmental ranger stations, and said peace and environmental protection were inseparable, Iran's Mehr news agency reported. He highlighted Iran's renewable energy growth, saying installed capacity had risen from 1,250 megawatts to more than 6,150 megawatts over two years.

A gap in the climate system

International climate agreements currently include billions of dollars in wealthy-country finance to help developing countries adapt to climate change and pay for its impacts, but there is no provision covering the environmental impacts of military strikes — the gap Pezeshkian asked the conference to close.

Background: the war since late February

The United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran in late February. The conflict, which spread to Lebanon and the Gulf, has involved repeated strikes on energy infrastructure in Iran and across the wider region, as well as strikes on shipping. Reuters noted that Iran has repeatedly attacked oil tankers navigating the Strait of Hormuz, and that those attacks have also caused environmental damage, including substantial oil leaks.

The Iran war may also have led to a reduction in overall global emissions. A report from a consortium of international scientists on Tuesday said global fossil fuel emissions are on track to fall slightly this year, in part due to high prices for fuel and expanded use of renewable energy in the wake of the conflict.

Before travelling to Türkiye, Pezeshkian had described COP31 as a good opportunity to raise what he called the damage done by the United States and Israel to the environment in Iran and the region, according to Iranian state television reporting carried by Middle East Eye. Leader speeches at COP31 continue into Thursday, and negotiators from nearly 200 countries are working toward a final deal before the conference closes on November 20.