An Ivorian law to combat climate change is in the pipeline
A draft law is being prepared in Ivory Coast. The bill, described as "binding", focuses on the fight against climate change in this West African country.
It’s been a long time coming! Ivory Coast is one of the African countries that does not yet have a binding legal arsenal on climate change. The Ivorian authorities are well aware of this, and prefer to take their time in bringing into force a text that will be equal to the current challenges (between extreme heat and devastating floods).
A draft bill on the fight against climate change is being prepared with the support of the European Union (EU) via Expertise France. The future text, which will become part of “Ivory Coast’s legal ecosystem, will stand out for its ability to regulate the use of coercive measures by individuals and other companies who are reluctant to do so”, explains Dadié Anoma.
The other objective mentioned by the Technical Adviser to the Ivorian Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition is to stimulate “the issues of mitigation, adaptation and the inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as Ivory Coast’s participation in carbon market mechanisms”.
Climate action, a legal issue
So far, the country of elephants has relied on other instruments of its environmental legislation to advance its climate action. These include the June 2014 Orientation Law on Sustainable Development, which clearly states (Article 18) the need for the Ivorian state to “develop and implement tools to combat climate change”. The draft bill currently in the pipeline stems from this recommendation.
Ivory Coast signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, and signed (2015) and ratified (2016) the Paris Climate Agreement. These various accessions have resulted in a number of concrete commitments for Yamoussoukro, including that of reducing its GHG emissions by 30% by 2030.
