Environment Sub-Sector Strategic Plan.

The Environment Sub-Sector Strategic Plan is sectoral national strategic plan in force for the period of 2010 – 2015. Its main objective is that all development in Rwanda is undertaken in a manner that inflicts minimal damage to the environment, and that all degraded ecosystems are restored and conserved for the sustained support to economic, social and cultural development of Rwanda.
Specific strategic objectives to be achieved are the following: (1) to ensure that the productive and regulatory functioning of ecosystems in Rwanda is restored, maintained or enhanced by rehabilitating, conserving and sustainably managing all critical ecosystems; (2) to ensure that Rwanda is protected from the effects of climate change by putting in place and implementing appropriate mechanisms for mitigation and adaptation, through mobilization of and collaboration with stakeholders; (3) to ensure that environmental sustainability principles are effectively mainstreamed into all national development policies, programmes, plans and budgets; (4) to ensure pollution control and management; and (5) to ensure that Rwanda has adequate and sustained capacity for effective environmental governance and decentralized service delivery.
The Strategic Plan also provides for concrete programmes that will contribute to the implementation of the strategic objectives. Among others, the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation programme will design and implement a comprehensive national climate change policy and strategy, to integrate climate change into all development policies, programmes and budgets. This long-term strategy will, inter alia, address the following priorities: (1) generating spatial and thematic information on Rwanda’s climate change vulnerability, including implications for poverty reduction and regional integration; (2) developing a policy and institutional framework for integrated climate change management; (3) capacity development for climate change management including disaster preparedness and response, climate change mitigation and adaptation, in a sustainable way; and (4) public-private partnerships for sustainable financing and management of climate change issues, including international negotiations and communication.
Rwanda Environment Management Authority, the principal public authority charged with the environmental planning and regulation, will be overall responsible for coordination and reporting on the implementation of environment sub-sector activities. The Ministry of Environment and Lands will provide the overall political direction and policy oversight, guide the preparation of the sector budget and defend it in cabinet, and lead the sub-sector in resource mobilization. It will also proactively engage and influence other ministries to make environmentally compliant policies, focusing primarily on those sectors that have a direct bearing on the environment. In addition, local government authorities, public research and regulatory institutions and CSOs will also be involved in these processes.