Fatemeh Javadi - Carrier and Policies

Carrier and Policies

After the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as President of Iran, Fatemeh Javadi was appointed Iranian Vice-President and Head of Department of the Environment (DoE). Javadi's main responsibility is to oversee the state Environmental Protection Organization. To date, she and Nasrin Soltankhah are the only women in the cabinet.

On September 10, 2005 the investiture ceremony for the new head of Department of Environment, Vice-President Fatemeh Javadi, was held at Pardisan Park on Saturday. At the ceremony, attended by the head of Presidential Office, Gholamhossein Elham, the head of Women’s Participation Center (now called Center for Women and Family Affairs) Zahra Shojaei as well as other officials, former DoE Chief Masoumeh Ebtekar said, “During the past eight years, we faced many upheavals. Fortunately we progressed by the day and managed to improve prospects for the country’s environment.“ The Vice-President referred to the environmental guidelines declared by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and stated, “In the president’s macro guidelines, it is emphasized that destruction of environment should be avoided and the judiciary should support implementation of all environmental laws and regulations.“

Vice-President Javadi has articulated some of her plans for the Department of the Environment. She has stated that she will work towards the goals of institutionalizing the culture of protecting the environment, boosting public awareness about environmental considerations on the basis of sustainable development, holding environmental training courses from kindergarten all the way up to the universities, and focusing the DoE on the facilitation of research.

Vice-President Javadi has stated that sustainable development is based upon three basic principles: people, economy and environment.

"Sustainable development cannot be achieved with a prompt utilization of God's endowments, such as mineral resources, and thorough understanding of the "Nature's Language". Just like the exploration and of mineral resources, which requires its own techniques, prolonged exploitation of the natural resources improved techniques and advanced technologies. Considerate perception of these fundamental qualities the basics of "Nature's Language". Languages have their own logic and are systematic in every respect; similarly, Nature's Language has its own rules for illustrating mines. Interrupting the nature's order can lead to irremediable consequences in the physical and human environments. Moreover, concentration of particular elements in excess of the nature's capacity may lead to irreversible environmental harm. Methodical collaboration between the mining community and Environmental Protection Organization can result in lessening of these environmental hazards through sanctioning of environmental-friendly mining regulation and guidelines thus leading to brighter future for both the environment and the mines. The result of such collaborations will maximize the life of mines while ~ downplaying the impact of mining activities. It is hoped that the mining experts involved in fields of exploration, exploitation and processing of minerals with their preventive (and not curing) perceptions, lead the way towards environmental protection. I am confident that such a prestigious gathering will definitely put forth scientific strategies for increased mining production with least impact on environment."

In November 2007, Javadi organized a circus in Pardisan park in Tehran. She was criticized by Iranian NGOs and activists for abuse of animals.

In August 2009, when Ahmadinejad re-elected as president she was replaced by Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh.