Ministerial Decree No.18/2012 issuing the Regulation on the climate affairs management.

This Decree consisting of 13 articles provides for rules for the management of climate affairs and streamlining the process of issuing licences to ensure that projects are engaged in reducing their carbon footprints. The new Regulation will be applicable to all new projects while the existing projects have been given three years to implement the guidelines. The responsible body is the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) through the General Directorate for Environmental Affairs. The Directorate undertakes tasks like preparation of national plans and policies necessarily to manage climate affairs, monitoring and evaluation of climate changes, preparation and implementation of laws, rules, and regulations on the management of climate affairs, protection of ozone layer, establishment and operation of network for monitoring and controlling of climate changes and issuing permits in compliance with the rules of this Regulation.
The Regulation establishes that the project owner shall (i) present a plan to the Ministry including afforestation of the area surrounding the project in addition to selection of trees and plants suitable for the local environment, which will help increase the absorption of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere; (ii) manage the risks of climate change by determining measures and procedures recommended to encounter those risks including but not limited to flooding, hurricanes, rise in temperature and sea level; (iii) use renewable energy sources; and (iv) use techniques which help emit less greenhouse gases.