Ministry of Environment Strategic Plan 2020 - 2022

This Ministry of Environment’s strategy 2020-2022 is a nationwide cross-sectoral document developed in a time of various interior and exterior changes and challenges, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims at (i) prioritizing the environment and granting it special care to ensure the development of the legislative frameworks; (ii) providing specialized personnel; and (iii) activating partnerships to protect the environment. The Ministry’s vision is to be “a pioneering Ministry in preserving environmental components toward sustainable development”, and its Mission is to “protect the environment, preserve vital ecological systems through setting and enforcing legislative frameworks, prepare strategies and policies, disseminate environmental culture and transition toward a green economy through a supportive institutional structure. The ultimate goal is to achieve sustainable development and reduce pollution and the negative effects of climate change while pursuing a participatory approach”. To achieve the main goals, the document has set out the following Strategic Objectives (i) protect and sustainably use ecosystem services; (ii) prevention of pollution and to address its adverse impacts; (iii) address climate change; (iv) transition towards a Green Economy; (v) disseminate environmental culture and promote sound environmental behavior; and (vi) develop institutional performance and promote a culture of excellence, innovation and gender.
To make agriculture more productive and sustainable, the Strategy aims at reducing the quantities of industrial wastewater and using it as an irrigation source for some trees.
The document proposes many interventions in order to increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, they are (i) develop integrated environmental management frameworks for natural resources to preserve environmental and ecological systems, their services and various components; (ii) coordinate and plan the sustainable use of lands to reduce desertification and achieve environmental balance through an integrated participatory effort; (iii) restore degraded ecosystems; (iv) raise environmental awareness of the effects of climate change, address its effects through adaptation, mitigation, provision of financing, and transfer of technology; (v) eliminate ozone depleting substances by implementing the national strategy and fulfilling the national and international obligations; and (vi) involve different groups of society in identifying environmental pollution problems and management mechanisms and develop gender-sensitive interventions.
Governance is the main issue of the document and it needs to be improved in order to (i) address growing environmental and developmental challenges; (ii) strengthen the role of the Ministry of Environment at legal, administrative and technical levels; (iii) promote the enforcement of environmental legislation and policies; (iv) support and strengthen monitoring operations through the introduction of programs to control water, air and soil quality, monitor landfills, protect and promote environmental health, prepare a periodic environment state, and issue a list of national environmental indicators; (v) grant environmental approvals to industrial, commercial, agricultural, housing, service, and investment establishments, in addition to carrying out environmental impact assessment, and strengthening environmental inspection and auditing; (vi) develop the legislative framework, policies and strategies related to chemicals and waste management of all kinds and coordinate their application; (vii) contribute to the enforcement of environmental legislation and policies, support environmental inspection and auditing, and strengthen oversight of all vital and developmental facilities and activities; (viii) enhance the institutional and individual capabilities of the ministry and its branches and promote decentralization to carry out the tasks entrusted to them and achieve strategic goals in an effective and efficient manner; and (ix) develop electronic infrastructure, technical systems, process automation, and introduce smart services for internal and external customers.