Environmental governance and sustainable development in the future of Middle East order

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Allameh Tabataba'i University

Abstract

The Middle East is currently suffering from major environmental challenges such as drought and water stress, air pollution, deforestation and biodiversity and biodiversity loss. In many ways, this region is among the most vulnerable in the world to the potential effects of climate change and natural disasters. Environmental challenges may exacerbate existing social, environmental and economic pressures on sectors such as water, agriculture, infrastructure, health and tourism, and significantly impede efforts to achieve sustainable development goals in these countries. Since the impacts of environmental challenges do not recognize the country's borders, addressing them should also involve international cooperation. Considering the critical environmental conditions in the Middle East, how will the transition to sustainable development in the region be realized? The main idea of the article is that by advancing regional governance and cooperation, countries can tackle with the challenge of environmental change and achieve sustainable development. The aim of the article is to emphasize regional governance regimes as one of the most efficient solutions to overcome environmental challenges. The question is what will be the role of regional governance in advancing the transition towards sustainable development? The research findings are that considering that some West Asian countries have a common geography and natural resources and a common ecosystem, they can benefit from regional governance and cooperation, especially in the fields of policy coordination, agenda setting, technical assistance and capacity building and the use of financial leverage in the realization of sustainable development. The method was qualitative and based on Horizon scanning in future research.

Keywords


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