Climate change is intensifying humanitarian crises worldwide, as natural disasters become more frequent and severe for the world's population. In response to this pressing global issue, governments, corporations, and individuals are being urged to take urgent and decisive action to reduce the impact of climate change.
Environment Litigation
Landmark rulings of international courts are strengthening legal pathways in the fight against climate change. In a historic judgment, the European Court of Human Rights found that the Swiss authorities had not acted in time and in an appropriate way to devise, develop and implement relevant legislation and measures to mitigate the effects of climate change.
In India, the Supreme Court ruled, for the first time, that there was a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change.
In Mauritius, the Supreme Court is similarly expanding the reach of litigants who can bring environmental cases by recognising that environmental associations may have the right to appeal again the grant of Environment Impact Assessments (vide Eco-Sud v The Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, which judgment is being appealed against at the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council).
International Call for Action
On the international front, organisations such as OECD and the World Bank Group are calling for a radical shift to encourage investment into low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure. The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct and the new flagship project of the World Bank Group - the B-Ready report- both capture a broad range of social and environmental expectations to help businesses ensure that their net-zero targets align with international commitments.
Framework in Mauritius
The Government is responding to the call for action in a number of ways. The most recent attempt is the introduction of the Environment Bill (the Bill) in Parliament in April 2024. The Bill, envisioned to replace the outdated Environment Protection Act and complement the Climate Change Act, provides for the integration and mainstreaming of environmental sustainability in planning and development through the formulation of National Policies, Strategies, and Action Plans on Sustainable Development and National Circular Economy set out in the Bill.
The establishment of an Observatoire de l’Environnement is a core provision of the Bill advocating for a platform to engage stakeholders, including the public, in environmental monitoring and management, the development of environmental policies and collective climate action. The ancillary Science to Policy Platform is intended to drive multi-sectoral dialogue and translate scientific guidance into evidence-based policies. Moreover, with transparency and accountability being the mainspring, the Bill prescribes the institution of public consultations as part of Environmental Impact Assessment, Preliminary Environmental Report and Strategic Environmental Assessment processes.
One of the main objectives of the Bill is to establish an appropriate framework for the protection, conservation and management of Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) being ecologically fragile and sensitive areas. Provisions that are essential in determining the level of protection ESAs require, in view of integrating environmental and ecological concerns into economic development planning.
In its quest to consolidate environmentally friendly norms as society grapples with the impact of climate change, the Bill introduces new control mechanisms under the form of the completion certificates to assess compliance with environmental standards set upon grant of clearances. Other novel provisions include National circular economy policy bringing forth a holistic approach necessary to tackle the growing pollution crisis by leveraging on the tenets of circularity, namely eliminate, innovate and circulate; a National Oil Spill Coordination Committee to ensure a prompt, planned and coordinated response to oil spills to preserve marine ecosystems and; a plastic management framework to coordinate and control the amount of plastic waste in the environment.
The Environment Bill is still before Parliament and will be the subject of debate.
