Environmental management includes Institutional frameworks, environmental legislation and capacity building, as well as the application and enforcement of the general environment laws and regulation and what is followed in environmental inspection and licensing.
It also deals with the management of crises, disasters and environmental risks and the partnership with civil society and NPOs and the private sector, which contributes to sustainable development and economic reforms. it also addresses the importance of environmental culture and awareness, environmental indicators related to sustainable development with the aim of achieving harmony between economic plans and policies in the Kingdom, social growth, natural resource utilization and environmental systems contributing to integrated environmental assessment processes and issuing reports on the state of the environment.
Duplication in environmental work represents an important issue, especially if it is accompanied by poor coordination between the main bodies in charge of protecting the environment and the various governmental and private agencies, which causes confusion in environmental work and a waste of time, effort and financial resources.
Strengthening coordination between government agencies concerned with environmental laws and regulations
The need for more attention to the availability of information of the environmental situation in the Kingdom in order to provide national data on environmental conditions, without which it becomes difficult to formulate policies and develop strategies and action plans that include measurable goals. Furthermore developing databases of sustainable development indicators, and setting plans and procedures for exchanging data and indicators within a specific government program is a priority.
The economic costs of environmental degradation are often invisible, but they are real, substantial, and growing. This results in the use of natural resources in an unsustainable manner, which undermines economic development. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically review the laws and regulations that deal with environmental affairs to keep pace with national and global developments and include them in the economic outlooks in a way that preserves resources from depletion, protects the environment and enhances human well-being.
Environmental work is a collective effort in which various entities and individuals participate and it is synergistic in nature, and in order to advance it, it is necessary to activate national strategies concerned with the environment, to refine and improve licensing and inspection processes, update national standards, to be required to obtain the ISO 14001 environmental management system certification, and to strengthen cooperation and partnership with civil society, public and private sectors in developing and reviewing strategies, action plans related to environment, and in awareness programs, conventions and in activating scientific research mechanisms in various fields of the environment.