Abstract on White Paper
on new National Environment Policy (2007)
The Ministry
of Environment & NDU (Environment Division)
has redefined its vision and mission to pave the way towards
achieving the sustainable development goal. In this context,
a new national environment policy (NEP) is being formulated
and a draft White Paper thereon has been prepared by the
Ministry of Environment & NDU (Environment Division)
for discussion. Given that environment is a complex,
cross-cutting issue, the draft White Paper has probed
into various sectors
ranging from purely environmental issues to complex economic
and social aspects. The aim of the NEP is to reconcile
environmental sustainability with economic and social
development, and with the ultimate goal of providing
better quality
of life to the Mauritian population. The new features of this new national environment policy
document are, amongst others, to :
Promote our tourism sector whilst ensuring adequate management
of the resources that nurture its growth;
• Encourage environment industry by making waste become a
source of raw material;
• Foster sustainable consumption and production;
• Emphasise on the need to come up with a recycled-based
society where waste minimisation will play a major role
daily;
• Optimise the share of renewable sources of energy in our
energy mix;
• Carry out community beautification campaigns, privileging
public-private partnerships;
• Build a culture of environmental stewardship and ethics;
• Promote environmental education, including value-based
education;
• Gradually decentralise the environmental protection system. In 2006, consultations have been organised with ministries,
some parastatal bodies, local authorities, the private
sector and NGOs to discuss and take on board, as far as
practicable, their views, comments, sectoral policies and
strategies. Concurrently, the views and comments of international
organisations to which Mauritius is party, in particular
the Secretariats of Multilateral Environmental Agreements,
were also sought on the draft White Paper. Furthermore,
the National Network for Sustainable Development (NNSD)
met for the first time and considered the compiled comments
received. Additional comments of the members of the NNSD
were submitted and taken on board as far as was practicable. Click
here for viewing the National Environment Policy.
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