TEHRAN – More than 1,360 environmental houses and 1,050 non-governmental organizations are voluntarily operating across the country in different fields, including training, promoting, preserving wildlife, cleaning up nature, planting saplings, and decision-making, an official with the DOE has said.

Public participation is one of the key factors in achieving sustainable development and increasing the country’s resilience, IRIB quoted Mohammad-Hossein Bazigar as saying.

The country’s environmental challenges, like climate change, water, soil, and air pollution, waste management, and water scarcity, are so pervasive that they cannot be addressed without the participation of the people and all stakeholders, he added.

Highlighting that environmental security is directly tied to national security, the official said every citizen can contribute to environmental protection, from managing water consumption and waste at home to assuming a role in the workplace and community.

To enhance public participation in environmental protection, the department found it essential to focus on training students at schools. So, DOE, in cooperation with the Education Ministry, has launched a project to train eco-friendly practices among students who will be environmental helpers later.  

‘We are all responsible for environmental protection’

President Masoud Pezeshkian has underlined the shared responsibility of each individual for the protection of the environment, saying, “We all bear the responsibility to care for the environment.”

Referring to Article 50 of the Constitution, which regards the protection of the environment as a public duty, the president said, “We all bear the responsibility to care for the environment,” IRNA reported.

“World Environment Day and Week warn about the present and the future of life on Earth,” he wrote on his X account on the occasion of World Environment Day, observed on June 5 every year, and National Environment Week, marked from June 6 to 12.

All governments and societies need to prioritize the sustainability of natural infrastructures in any decision and action, he added.

MT/MG