TEHRAN—The 20th National Congress for Green Industrial and Service Units was held in Tehran on Tuesday during which green industrial and service producing units were lauded, ISNA news agency reported. 

The industrial and service producing units are active in fields of agriculture, oil, petrochemistry, cement, agriculture, recycling and electricity, deputy environment chief Masoud Tajrishi said during the congress. 

Some 253 units submitted for the evaluations, of which 217 were industrial and the rest were service producing, Tajrishi explained. 

14 top green industrial units 67 green industrial units as well as 3 top green service producing units were awarded at the event, Tajrishi said, adding that 11 service producing units also received honorable mention as the congress. 

The congress aims to encourage industrial and service units to go green and become more environment friendly and all those participating in the event volunteered, he added.

Complying with environmental rules and regulation is the utmost objective of the congress, the deputy environment chief suggested. 

Recycling the waste, monitoring the pollutants, energy efficiency, and using clean energies are among the criteria green units should meet, he explained. 

'Economic development resulted in environmental degradation’

Chief of the Department of Environment explained that industrialization to achieve economic development has given rise to environmental degradation, Mehr news agency reported.

Over the past 40 years since the Islamic Revolution (1979) all sectors including health and industry have undergone development, Issa Kalantari said, adding that the only sector which has not achieved any improvement is the country’s environment. 

After 40 years I can’t talk of any achievement in this sector, deforestation, soil erosion, water shortage, air pollution, etc. are all haunting the country, he added.

Unsuitable development have harmed the environment, he noted, saying that the congress is an opportunity to extend our gratitude towards those who have done small parts in going green.

Pollutions major environmental risks to health 

Caretaker Health Minister Saeed Namaki, for his part, explained that not paying attention to environmental factors is posing a great risk to human health. 

Air pollution, wetlands depletion, and polluting industries are threatening public health, Namaki said, adding that diseases caused due to negative environmental impacts on health are inflicting considerable costs on the governments. 

Environmental pollutants are a great danger to health system and policy makers should take it into consideration, he highlighted.

In order to have a healthy society we have to respect the environment, he suggested. 

MQ/MG