A number of lawmakers have recently submitted a bill proposing once more the establishment of a ministry to be in charge of energy, water and the environment, a plan that a top official with the Expediency Council believes is a low priority at the present time. At the moment, a vice presidency is in charge of environmental affairs while issues concerning energy and water are handled by a ministry.
Speaking to ISNA, Mohammad Mojabi, secretary of the environment committee at the Expediency Council, said management of the country's natural environment is an intersectoral task that requires strong national resolve but the structure of the managing bodies is not a primary issue. "Organizational structure is of secondary importance in current conditions," he said.
He stressed that what is of the utmost importance at the moment is that all sectors as well as every individual become sensitive to ecological concerns.
Oversight at Issue
By proposing a ministry, according to Mojabi, lawmakers are seeking to have greater authority over the operations of the Department of Environment because a minister has to be answerable to parliament while a vice presidency operates under the supervision of the president.
"A vice president is in a higher position than a minister and can pursue the matters more easily," he said.
Mojabi, who was formerly a deputy for parliamentary affairs at the DOE, also pointed out that within the present framework, the DOE is better able to interact with other sectors.
"A ministry would undermine the intersectoral nature of the DOE," he noted, adding that even now, parliamentarians can oversee the DOE's operations.
The official emphasized that it would be better to focus on fostering a general will to ameliorate the natural conditions rather than focusing on "time-consuming and costly procedures like introducing a ministry."
"It is essential that all organizations put the general environmental policies [declared by the Leader of Islamic Revolution in consultation with the Expediency Council] on agenda. This set of 15 policies involves areas such as green economy, green tax, environment diplomacy and awareness-raising on natural issues and the vital elements of water, soil and air."
