Environment Master Plan (2020-2030) for the Republic of Mauritius.

This Environment Master Plan (2020-2030) for the Republic of Mauritius basically establishes the foundation to support the country’s transition to a green and clean society. It constitutes a blueprint to guide policymakers and the civil society in adopting a sustainable pathway for the next decade and aims to adapt institutions, legislation and economic development to the fast-changing global realities and specific socio-economic and environmental conditions of Mauritius and Rodrigues. The vision of this Master Plan aims at achieving an inclusive, high income and green society supported by a comprehensive approach that addresses priority issues and embraces innovative approaches. Therefore, this Master Plan identifies the following eight challenging thematic areas: 1) environmental culture; 2)urbanisation and environmental policy; 3) climate change; 4) marine environment and coastal zone management; 5) biodiversity and natural resources; 6) pollution control; 7) waste management; 8) control of plastic waste. The Master Plan also defines nine complementary specific issues requiring targeted analysis and review, for the formulation of operational policy and institutional and legal recommendations: 1) sustainable development; 2) strategic environmental assessment; 3) environmental observatory; 4) circular economy and waste management; 5) plastic management; 6) environmentally sensitive areas; 7) oil spills and environmental emergency; 8) enforcement strengthening and compliance mechanisms; 9) national environmental laboratory.
For each of the nine specific issues, the Master Plan specifies actions and measures: including provisions supporting sustainable development; increasing access to external expertise in strategic environment assessment; developing a cooperative arrangement with Réunion Island to establish a joint environment observatory and environmental projects; introducing specific legislation relevant to circular economy such as: disposal fee for industrial and commercial wastes at the landfill, obligation on hotels and industrial and commercial sectors to segregate their wastes and send organic wastes for composting and recyclable materials to recyclers, implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), introduction of penalties for waste and circular economy regulatory infractions; developing a partnership with Réunion Island for the disposal of problematic plastics; strengthening ecosystem protection, taking into consideration the proposed amendments for mangroves, coral and seagrass in the fisheries bill; developing a conservation strategy, an action plan and priority interventions measure for protected areas; establishing an Industrial Waste Audit (IWA) Division; developing a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) for both terrestrial and marine environment and establishing a National Spill Advisory Committee.