Environment damage inflicts billions in losses on Iran’s economy: Study
A study carried out by the Iranian parliament alleges that the Iranian economy suffers billions in losses each year over the damage inflicted on the environment.
An excerpt of the results of the study published in the official IRNA agency on Friday showed that the current losses caused by a lack of proper care for protection of environment in Iran would be much higher than a total of $8.5 billion reported in 2002 by the World Bank.
The study said more than $500 million has been lost as a result of drought in Bakhtegan Lake in southern Iranian province of Fars where environment activists insist the government has been wrong to build dams on the rivers leading to the watershed.
The report, titled “A Comparative Study of Environment Economy from Legislative and Supervisory Perspectives” said Iran still lacked a proper mechanism to evaluate the costs of environment damage.
“Only the damage inflicted on Tashk (lake) and Bakhtegan watershed has been around $503 million, equivalent to 0.05 percent of Iran’s GDP in 2013,” said the report, adding that the economic loss related to the environment sector has potentially increased over the past years.
The study further elaborated that lack of care for environment has caused a rise in the number of premature deaths and cancers in Iran, saying the cost of health care provided to the people affected by change of the climate in the country is jumping high.
Iran has yet to ratify a major international agreement on climate change and environment protection signed in Paris in 2015.
Authorities have declared that they have reservations on endorsing the agreement due to its potential impacts on energy security in Iran. However, they have insisted that the government should do more as part of its own efforts to protect the environment.
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