“Investors have historically complained that Oman's environmental regulatory architecture is draconian. Most investors in Oman are not billion-dollar firms, right? They are small investors from neighboring countries and are not interested in stringent environmental legislation,” said Manishankar Prasad, an Indian consultant who advised Oman’s environmental authorities and free zones during the Sultan Qaboos and Sultan Haitham eras.

Qaboos bin Said Al Said, ruler of Oman from 1970 until his death in 2020, set up the Gulf region’s first office for environmental protection in 1974, as well as the first Ministry for the Environment in 1984. Under the Basic Statute of the State, Oman’s constitution, environmental conservation and pollution prevention are considered the state’s responsibility.

The voice of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs and the Office for Conservation of Environment at the Diwan of Royal Court long had significant weight in the country, and businesses violating environmental regulations risked heavy penalties or being shut down.

But economic hardship and high budget deficit put this environmental commitment to the test. In 2020, Sultan Haitham dissolved the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, which was represented at the Council of Ministers. The environment portfolio is now in the hands of the Environment Authority, a “toothless and powerless” state agency with “limited powers and limited fundings”, a source close to Oman policy-making circles told Al-Monitor.