Introduction: The decline in environmental quality has raised public concern about environmental issues. Even in the greenest countries, policymakers face the significant challenge of understanding why environmental policies are often ineffective in addressing these problems. According to the 2024 Global Environmental Performance Index, Iran ranks 133rd out of 180 countries, reflecting a poor global standing and numerous environmental crises, including ecosystem conversion, biodiversity loss, increasing dust storms, drying wetlands and lakes, water resource depletion, land subsidence, and air and soil pollution. Contributing factors include a lack of robust development plans, ineffective environmental policies, outdated laws and regulations, and inadequate coordination among agencies and organizations. These issues underscore the urgent need for effective environmental policymaking to address the growing crises. This study, recognizing the importance of the formulation stage in public policymaking, proposes a model for developing environmental policies in Iran to address these challenges and reduce environmental pollution.
Materials and Methods: This study employed a qualitative research approach, incorporating both library and field research methods for data collection. Data were gathered through note-taking and expert interviews. The analysis was conducted using a thematic analysis strategy, chosen for its ability to extract meaningful insights from qualitative data, such as interview transcripts. The coding and thematic analysis process followed a comprehensive, step-by-step approach. Using purposive sampling, the research team interviewed 13 experts, including university professors, environmental researchers, executives from the Environmental Protection Organization, and managers involved in environmental policymaking. The interviews continued until thematic saturation was achieved, indicating no new themes or concepts were emerging. To ensure reliability, the test-retest reliability index was applied to the coding of the interviews. In this approach, a few randomly selected interviews were coded and then re-coded after a certain period to compare the consistency of the codes. This technique helped verify the reliability of the thematic analysis process.
Results: The study results indicate that a model for formulating environmental policies to achieve sustainable development comprises eight key themes: economic factors, social factors, environmental factors, political factors, legal requirements, institutional capacity, key stakeholders in policy formulation, and the process of formulating environmental policies. Each theme plays a crucial role in policy development. Addressing environmental issues without a collective approach to these themes is likely to be ineffective. A fragmented approach to implementing these themes can lead to disruptions in development and significant harm to environmental resources. The results emphasize the need for a comprehensive approach that considers all these factors to effectively address environmental challenges and work toward sustainable developmen.
Discussion: To effectively tackle environmental crises, a holistic approach must be embraced in environmental policy formulation. Social, political, legal, and institutional factors must be carefully considered to avoid severe challenges and complications. Active participation from community organizations, NGOs, citizens, and local stakeholders in policymaking can play a significant role in resolving environmental issues. This requires not only the restructuring of institutional frameworks to strengthen environmental governance but also a review of existing legal systems to ensure they are conducive to effective policymaking. It also highlights the importance of combining bottom-up and top-down policies to improve environmental performance indicators. Bottom-up opportunities from local communities and civil society, along with top-down engagement from legislative, executive, and judicial branches, are critical to shaping effective policies.