Environmental degradation is a result also of disregarding laws and standards, and poor monitoring, Vice President and head of the Department of Environment (DoE), Masoumeh Ebtekar said Saturday.
In a conference on Standards and Environment, she said "upholding standards in protecting the environment is a norm and planning must be in line with standards and upheld by all organizations," IRNA reported.
Environmental issues, relevant procedures and norms are of special importance for the government of President Hassan Rouhani. "This provides the ideal context for the DoE and the Iranian National Standards Organization to build and expand collaboration."
In a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the DoE and the top standards organization, the two sides pledged to draw on their full potential to help protect the environment.
"The employment of modern technology will address environmental concerns and by extension health-related and economic aspects of our people's lives, " Ebtekar told the conferees. In Iran, fossil fuels are the main source of energy production. This is the major cause behind air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions which increase global warming and result in environmental degradation.
Ebtekar added that proper planning for the environment and their timely implementation will indeed benefit the environment and help augment economic growth. "The global trend is toward optimal use of energy," and giving importance also to renewable and clean sources of energy, the vice-president stressed.
According to her, environmental issues are crucial and can play a key role in the government's macroeconomic r policies. "Fortunately, the Rouhani administration has a positive vision toward improving and protecting the environment. Relying on this vision and collaboration between the DoE and the standards organization, we hope more effective measures will be taken in environmental planning."
Changing Consumption Patterns
President Hassan Rouhani in a live TV interview last week took stock of pressing economic issues, namely his government's plan of action to address environmental concerns.
"The quality of gasoline and diesel used in large cities has changed over the past year, resulting in reduction of air pollution," he said, and emphasized the changing pattern in petrol and diesel consumption in metropolitan areas. Implementation of a program to supply petrol and diesel produced according to international standards has helped reduce air pollution, the president noted.
The government has made big changes in relation to the production of oil and gas in local refineries. "The diesel has been de-sulfurized, and the use of gas oil and fuel oil has been reduced in our power plants, so we can supply more gas to the power plants. Oil and gas consumption has dropped in the power stations. We hope by next year all power plants will run only on gas. We're aware of the importance of environmental issues," and the critical need to check environmental degradation, Rouhani told the IRIB. 6
