Environment Quality Authority (EQA) | Biological Diversity of the State of Palestine

The Environmental Foundation was established in its first form, “the Palestinian Environmental Authority” in 1996 by a presidential decree, as an administratively and financially independent authority concerned with environmental affairs in all its aspects and leading the process of organizing work in the environmental field for its protection and maintenance. In 1998, the Ministry of Environmental Affairs was established and the Palestinian Environmental Authority was merged into it, so that its official name in 2002 was "Environment Quality Authority".

The Environment Quality Authority (EQA) seeks to promote sustainable environmental development for the Palestinian community, and its main mission is to protecting the environment with all its elements as well as preventing environmental hazards to which all living organisms are exposed. The EQA also constitutes the umbrella for all activities and studies related to planning, protection and environmental control. Yet, this responsibility does not fall on it alone, but all other Palestinian ministries and institutions concerned with Palestinian environmental affairs share it, based on the principle of partnership and integration in work.

The constitutional framework for environmental protection is based on Article 33 of the amended Basic Law. Law No. 7 of 1999 (Environmental Law) is considered the general legal framework that regulates rights and duties in protecting the environment, although it is considered a relatively recent law and regulates a sector that relies mainly on scientific and technical principles. Technically, enforcement of the law can only be accomplished by implementing a set of executive regulations, instructions and technical requirements, which must be carried out taking into account a wide range of other legislation such as the Public Health Law, Agriculture Law, Water Law, Natural Resources Law, Labor Law and a number of other legislations due to the comprehensiveness of the Environmental Law and intersect with it.

Vision and Mission

Palestine's environmental vision stems from a deep understanding of the importance of preserving and protecting the environment in establishing the future Palestinian state, where the vision is:

"A sustainable clean protected environment"

Goals and Strategic Objectives

The EQA’s core mission is to promote sustainable environmental development via protecting the environment with all its elements and prevent the environmental pollution, hazards, threats and dangers facing life of all living organisms. Palestinians are committed to the preservation and sustainable use of State of Palestine’s rich biodiversity, land, water and marine natural resources.

In order to achieve the vision of the environmental sector and based on the analysis of the environmental reality, and a review of the previous sectoral environment strategy (2014-2016), and in line with the environmental vision, the national priorities and policies included in the document "National Policy Agenda 2017-2022", five objectives of the strategy were identified. The cross-sectoral environment to serve the specified period (2017-2022), which is as follows:

Environmental pollution levels are low and controlled.
The natural environment and biodiversity are maintained and managed in a sustainable manner.
The necessary measures to adapt to the effects of climate change, reduce desertification, and confront disasters and environmental emergencies are taken and adopted.
The environmental legislative system is updated, activated and integrated, the environmental institutional framework is feasible and efficient, and international cooperation is enhanced.
Levels of environmental awareness, knowledge and behavior are enhanced and generalized.

Having signed the Convention on Biological Diversity, Palestine developed the new 2023-2050 National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (see section NBSAP).