RWANDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Aimery de Schoutheete and Penina Ngabire, Liedekerke Great Lakes
Rwanda’s Vision 2050 and REMA’s Strategic Plan for 2022–2026 Rwanda’s Vision 2050 articulates the long-term strategic direction of the country, which is to make Rwanda an upper-middle-income coun - try by 2035 and a high-income country by 2050. In elaborating this long-term programme, the government took into consideration the global and regional development agendas, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified by the United Nations, and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Rwanda’s goal is therefore for the country’s growth and devel - opment to follow a sustainable path, in terms of use and management of natural resources, while building resilience to cope with the impact of climate change. Against this background, the REMA’s Strategic Plan for 2022–2026 identifies key measures for protecting the environment and ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources. Some measures directly impact the mining industry as, for instance, the REMA intends to intensify control of the productive sector, mainly in agriculture and mining, to ensure compliance with all environmental requirements. Other meas - ures may indirectly impact the mining industry – for example, the REMA intends to create new protected areas, which could affect the sector’s ability to conduct exploration in certain areas. 3.2 Climate Change Legislation and Proposals Related to Mining Under the current legal framework, only a few provisions scattered in the 2024 Mining Law, the Environment Law and their supplemental regula - tions directly impose specific obligations on the mining sector (conducting an EIA, establishing a rehabilitation plan, conducting an EA) to ensure that any mining activities in Rwanda comply
• The Rwandan Constitution guarantees the right to a clean environment and imposes (mainly) on the State the responsibility for protecting the environment. • Rwandan Law No 48/2018 of 13 August 2018 on the environment (the “Environment Law”) determines the modalities for protecting, conserving, and promoting the environment. It sets out the fundamental principles govern - ing environmental conservation, including the principle of sustainability and the “polluter pays” principle. • The Environment Law has since been sup - plemented by various presidential orders, ministerial orders and regulations. • The REMA is the national authority tasked with co-ordinating, regulating and enforcing the protection, conservation and manage - ment of the environment in Rwanda. Against this background, the Environment Law and the supplemental regulations impose gen - eral and specific obligations to tackle climate change and protect the environment. On the one hand, all administrative entities are required to preserve the environment and prevent the adverse effects of climate change, and all socio- economic sectors (including the mining sector) must factor the environment and climate change into the development and implementation of their policies, strategies, plans and programmes. On the other hand, prior to the issuance of an ML or a QL, all work related to mining must undergo a full EIA (which closely examines the impact of the mining project on the environment) and be backed by a rehabilitation plan of the future licensed area. After the issuance of the licence, all work related to mining must also undergo an environmental audit (EA) conducted by an inde - pendent expert.
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