TEHRAN –During the presidential election, the environmental committee of the elected President Masoud Pezeshkian offered a program with a focus on the preservation of the environment and the stability of the country.

The program is structured around six axes: moving towards a green economy;  managing and improving various quantitative and qualitative dimensions of environmental imbalances (such as economy, energy, and water); effectively protecting biological resources (including natural resources and biodiversity); achieving good environmental governance; addressing public demands in the field of environment, and enhancing international bilateral or multilateral cooperation in the field of environment.

To compile the program, general environmental policies, Article 50 of the Constitution, and other national policy documents have been taken into account.

Moreover, the president-elect has highlighted the necessity of observing environmental considerations in development plans.

Pezeshkian believes that no development plan should be initiated without taking environmental considerations into account; in other words, the environment should be the central pillar of all development matters.

Referring to the increasing occurrence of sand and dust storms (SDSs) in the region and the environmental statement on bolstering environmental diplomacy, the administration of Pezeshkian will definitely endorse regional and global interactions to tackle not only SDSs issue but also water diplomacy and transboundary waters as other critical issues.

Exchanging regional and global experiences in the field of environment, laying the ground for facilitating interactions and benefiting from global experiences and modern knowledge, and participating at various levels of environment-related negotiations in order to attract resources, enhance capabilities and secure national interests are parts of objectives in this context.

Drafting a binding legal document within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity to protect biodiversity, and manage valuable ecosystems such as national parks and national natural monuments has been highlighted.

Also, preventing the extinction of endangered species including cheetah, and bustard will be a top priority.

7th development plan on environmental issues
In the Seventh Development Plan of I.R. Iran, whose general policies were announced on September 2022 and the text of the bill was sent to the Iranian parliament (Majlis) for approval on May 2023, the “environmental issues” are mostly cited under the heading of "infrastructural affairs".

The importance of Iran's environment and protection is not taken considerably into account in the implementation of the 7th development plan of I.R. Iran, and we believe that various parts of Iran's life territorial stability, and national security will be exposed to more threats and gradual destruction. 

Drought, population increase, air pollution, climate change, industrial and agricultural production, sanctions, inefficient use of water and natural resources, and non-implementation of existing environmental regulations fuel the existing environmental crisis.

Inadequate water resources force people to migrate and the problems of big cities increase with marginalization. The aquifers are being drained. Air pollution has made living conditions in Iranian cities increasingly challenging.

Wind erosion increases the desertification of agricultural lands and creates a demand for more production in the remaining cultivable areas.

Biodiversity is under threat. On the other hand, the future of Iran's environment is greatly endangered by the development plans and annual plans that are implemented as emergency and urgent solutions one after the other.

Water transfer programs to the central plateau are a symbol of unsustainable development, and in addition to pollution and back-breaking costs for Iran's national economy, it will be the source of new environmental crises in the source and destination of water transfer.

The big challenge of the development programs in Iran is that without looking at a long-term strategic plan for the country and based on urgent and emergency cases at any point of time when the plan is being compiled, the list that according to the experts and executive managers has been reached as The clauses of the program have been paid.

MT/MG