Volume 12 - Number 3 April – May 2016 £4 TTHISHIS ISSUEISSUE: IIRAN’SRAN’S EENVIRONMENTALNVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGESCHALLENGES ● MMENA,ENA, cclimatelimate cchangehange andand COP21COP21 ● EEnvironmentalnvironmental sustainabilitysustainability inin IranIran ● CComplexitiesomplexities iinn aaddressingddressing waterwater securitysecurity inin IranIran ● TTehranehran aandnd itsits mountainsmountains ● AAirir ppollutionollution andand publicpublic hhealthealth iinn TehranTehran ● LLearningearning toto valuevalue greenishgreenish spacesspaces ● TTourismourism aandnd thethe environmentenvironment ● EEnvironmentalnvironmental policymakingpolicymaking inin TurkeyTurkey ● PPLUSLUS RReviewseviews andand eventsevents inin LondonLondon Volume 12 - Number 3 April – May 2016 £4 TTHISHIS ISSUEISSUE: IIRAN’SRAN’S EENVIRONMENTALNVIRONMENTAL CCHALLENGESHALLENGES ● MMENA,ENA, cclimatelimate cchangehange andand COP21COP21 ● EEnvironmentalnvironmental sustainabilitysustainability iinn IIranran ● CComplexitiesomplexities iinn aaddressingddressing wwaterater securitysecurity inin IIranran ● TTehranehran aandnd iitsts mmountainsountains ● AAirir ppollutionollution aandnd ppublicublic hhealthealth iinn TTehranehran ● LLearningearning toto vvaluealue ggreenishreenish sspacespaces ● TTourismourism aandnd tthehe eenvironmentnvironment ● EEnvironmentalnvironmental policymakingpolicymaking iinn TTurkeyurkey ● PPLUSLUS RReviewseviews andand eventsevents inin LLondonondon Parinaz Eleish, Barren Land. Courtesy of Vida Zaim and Leila Varasteh © Parinaz About the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) Eleish Th e London Middle East Institute (LMEI) draws upon the resources of London and SOAS to provide teaching, training, research, publication, consultancy, outreach and other services related to the Middle Volume 12 - Number 3 East. It serves as a neutral forum for Middle East studies broadly defi ned and helps to create links between individuals and institutions with academic, commercial, diplomatic, media or other specialisations. April – May 2016 With its own professional staff of Middle East experts, the LMEI is further strengthened by its academic Editorial Board membership – the largest concentration of Middle East expertise in any institution in Europe. Th e LMEI also Professor Nadje Al-Ali has access to the SOAS Library, which houses over 150,000 volumes dealing with all aspects of the Middle SOAS East. LMEI’s Advisory Council is the driving force behind the Institute’s fundraising programme, for which Dr Hadi Enayat it takes primary responsibility. It seeks support for the LMEI generally and for specifi c components of its AKU programme of activities. Ms Narguess Farzad SOAS LMEI is a Registered Charity in the UK wholly owned by SOAS, University of London (Charity Mrs Nevsal Hughes Registration Number: 1103017). Association of European Journalists Professor George Joff é Cambridge University Mission Statement: Ms Janet Rady Janet Rady Fine Art Mr Barnaby Rogerson Th e aim of the LMEI, through education and research, is to promote knowledge of all aspects of the Middle Ms Sarah Searight East including its complexities, problems, achievements and assets, both among the general public and with British Foundation for the Study those who have a special interest in the region. In this task it builds on two essential assets. First, it is based in of Arabia London, a city which has unrivalled contemporary and historical connections and communications with the Dr Sarah Stewart SOAS Middle East including political, social, cultural, commercial and educational aspects. Secondly, the LMEI is Dr Shelagh Weir at SOAS, the only tertiary educational institution in the world whose explicit purpose is to provide education Independent Researcher and scholarship on the whole Middle East from prehistory until today. Professor Sami Zubaida Birkbeck College Coordinating Editor Megan Wang LMEI Staff: SSubscriptions:ubscriptions: Listings Vincenzo Paci Director Dr Hassan Hakimian To subscribe to Th e Middle East in London, please visit: Designer Executive Offi cer Louise Hosking www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/affi liation/ or contact the Shahla Geramipour Events and Magazine Coordinator Vincenzo Paci LMEI offi ce. Administrative Assistant Aki Elborzi Th e Middle East in London is published fi ve times a year by the London Middle Letters to the Editor: East Institute at SOAS Publisher and Please send your letters to the editor at Editorial Offi ce Disclaimer: the LMEI address provided (see left panel) Th e London Middle East Institute or email [email protected] SOAS Opinions and views expressed in the Middle East University of London MBI Al Jaber Building, in London are, unless otherwise stated, personal 21 Russell Square, London WC1B 5EA views of authors and do not refl ect the views of their United Kingdom organisations nor those of the LMEI and the MEL's T: +44 (0)20 7898 4330 E: [email protected] Editorial Board. Although all advertising in the www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/ magazine is carefully vetted prior to publication, the ISSN 1743-7598 LMEI does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of claims made by advertisers. Contents LMEI Board of Trustees 4 17 Baroness Valerie Amos (Chair) EDITORIAL Iran post-sanctions: tourism Director, SOAS and the environment Professor Richard Black, SOAS Dr John Curtis 5 Minoo H. Esfehani Iran Heritage Foundation INSIGHT Dr Nelida Fuccaro, SOAS MENA, climate change and 19 Mr Alan Jenkins COP21 Environmental policymaking in Dr Karima Laachir, SOAS Hamid M. Pouran Turkey: a triumph of conviction Dr Dina Matar, SOAS over evidence Dr Hanan Morsy European Bank for Reconstruction 7 Ece Ozdemiroglu and Development Dr Barbara Zollner IRAN’S ENVIRONMENTAL Birkbeck College CHALLENGES 21 Environmental sustainability in REVIEWS LMEI Advisory Council Iran: the bumpy road ahead BOOKS Janet Blake Damascus Diaries: Life Under Lady Barbara Judge (Chair) the Assads Professor Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem H E Khalid Al-Duwaisan GVCO 9 Diana Darke Ambassador, Embassy of the State of Kuwait Complexities in addressing Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani Arab International Women’s Forum water security in Iran 22 Dr Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Ali Nazemi BOOKS IN BRIEF President, University College of Bahrain Professor Tony Allan King’s College and SOAS 11 24 Dr Alanoud Alsharekh Senior Fellow for Regional Politics, IISS Tehran and its mountains: a EVENTS IN LONDON Mr Farad Azima deteriorating interface NetScientifi c Plc Dr Noel Brehony Ali Madanipour MENAS Associates Ltd. Professor Magdy Ishak Hanna British Egyptian Society 13 HE Mr Mazen Kemal Homoud Air pollution and public health Ambassador, Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Iran Mr Paul Smith Chairman, Eversheds International Hamid M. Pouran Founding Patron and Donor of the LMEI 15 Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber Learning to value greenish MBI Al Jaber Foundation spaces James Hitchmough April – May 2016 The Middle East in London 3 EEDITORIALDITORIAL © Armin Amirian DDearear RReadereader Armin Amirian, Coalition, 2015. Digital C Print, 70 x 100 cm. Edition of 3. Courtesy of Janet Rady Fine Art Hamid M. Pouran, IHF Visiting Fellow in Iran’s Environmental Sustainability n March and April 2015 we published aspects of Iran’s environmental policies, she this discussion. Minoo H. Esfehani informs the fi rst issue of Th e Middle East in also notes the myriad of challenges that still us how an expected surge in tourism to ILondon dedicated to the environment. need to be addressed. and within Iran may negatively impact the Th e importance of environmental Iran’s water shortage is arguably as old as environment. Iran is not prepared and does sustainability in the MENA region and its history. Ali Nazemi discusses the roots not have the proper infrastructure in place the wide spectrum of challenges faced of this complex problem and notes the – in particular with respect to its natural was refl ected in that issue, which covered uncertainty in existing scientifi c knowledge landscapes – to successfully manage the subjects from the Nile Basin hydrosolidarity as well as the unsustainable culture of socio- environmental consequences of a predicted to depleted uranium pollution in Iraq. economic development. ‘tsunami of tourists’. In this issue we focus on Iran on the eve Two articles focus on Tehran. In the Iran is not the only country in the of its opening up aft er last year’s nuclear fi rst, Ali Madanipour explains how the Middle East that practises poor standards agreement with the P5+1 countries to draw city’s rapid urbanisation has changed and neglects existing legal frameworks to attention to its neglected environmental its relationship with its immediate prevent environmental damage. As Ece challenges. environment. Th e depletion of aquifers Ozdemiroglu writes, while Turkey does To talk about environmental problems and air pollution are among the major not lack laws and regulations, existing laws in Iran – or any other country, for that challenges that Tehran faces. My second and regulations are commonly bypassed matter – we must fi rst discuss the 2015 article expands on this theme looking at air or ignored. To improve environmental COP21 Paris Climate Change agreement. In pollution. I explain the Air Quality Index policymaking in Turkey, assessments of the Insight I describe what the 21st Conference (AQI) and talk about some of the causes long-term environmental impacts of major of Parties (COP) in Paris has achieved and and consequences of air pollution that construction projects and activities such as how MENA countries have committed