Seminar on environmental economy opens in Tehran

The three-day seminar entitled `Economy of Environment' with a focus on economic growth and the quality of environment opened at the auditorium of Pardisan park in Tehran on Monday.
   Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Vice President and Head of Department of the Environment (DoE) Masoumeh Ebtekar assessed the worldwide services rendered on wild life diversity at 180-190 trillion dollars.
   She attributed the wildlife extinction and the shortage of water and soil reserves to overlooking the value of such services.
   Stressing that today the governments paying attention to building up the future can succeed, Ebtekar noted that the prospect of the future should be taken into view so that the people will have no concern on the future.
   "The current situation is, however, the other way round, so that the government is just concerned about the present time and paying subsidies, while the people are concerned about the future.
   "If the subsidies are provided with no definite objective and the government does not take into view the future, the environment and natural reserves go to waste," he added.
   She expressed satisfaction with the government's positive developments and achievements in the domain of environment, in particular the economy of the environment, during its two terms in office.
   Ebtekar pointed to the assessment of environment as one of DoE activities in the Third Development Plan and said that 350 cases of such assessment have been accomplished by DoE in major development, industrial and highway projects.
   As an introduction to green industries during the Third Development Plan, she mentioned 11 petrochemical complexes currently involved in management of environment, including the one in Assalouyeh.
   "Many of the major industrial units in which investments were made to improve environmental conditions, had a turnover in three years," she concluded. 

  NGDIR