By 2050, our planet must provide food, shelter and jobs for 10 billion people.
 
The land available to support this is as finite as it is fragile.
 
Yet, every year, our choices waste millions of hectares, cost trillions and generate a growing number of sand and dust storms.
 
They contribute to climate change, poverty and pollution – and threaten our security and our health.
 
The consequences have no respect for borders.
 
The world already struggles to care for 65 million people displaced by economic, political or environmental instability.
 
We cannot afford to let desertification swell those numbers by 50 million in the next 50 years.
 
That is why securing the Tehran Declaration has global importance.
 
And why I want to thank the Iranian Government for making that possible.
 
I look forward to discussing progress at the UN General Assembly in September – and the UN Environment Assembly in December.
 
Thank you.