IOC parliamentarians meet in Seychelles to plan laws on climate change 

Measures taken to deal with the impact of coastal erosion caused by climate change on Praslin. (Romano Laurence) 

(Seychelles News Agency) - Authorities in Seychelles will embark on a series of discussions with stakeholders to draft climate legislation, said a government minister at a regional seminar on interparliamentary cooperation on climate change.

The Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, announced this in his address at the closing ceremony of a two-day seminar held for parliamentarians on Tuesday.

Parliamentarians in the Indian Ocean region countries met to decide the parameters they would like to include in an upcoming climate law for their respective countries.

The workshop was held by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), through its Governance, Peace and Stability (GPS) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie, and financed by the French Development Agency.

"We will be meeting members of the National Assembly, the executive, and members of the public to discuss how we can come up with environmental legislation that encompasses all our global needs," said Joubert.

It was pointed out in the seminar, that although the countries in the Indian Ocean are not major contributors to global warming, they are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie, Damien Cesselin, explained that his organisation would offer these small islands, "The much-needed platform where the island states can compare the different practices and help them draft the policies and legislations for their respective countries."

Parliamentarians discussed various topics including regional cooperation for sustainable management of natural resources, the importance of finding proper financing for climate mitigation and resilience projects in the Indian Ocean.

Those who attended the meeting made commitments to meet regularly to work together to draft a piece of regulation that meets the Paris Agreement while keeping in line with the countries' particularities.

In 2024, almost 10 years after the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement on 12 December 2015, very few Indian Ocean countries have created a legislative framework to implement the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

This has made it more difficult for these countries to access climate financing. While all IOC member states, as parties to the Paris Agreement, have established agreements, put in place policy or strategic frameworks drawn up by their governments for climate adaptation to climate change. In the countries participating in the seminar, only Mauritius has a law on climate change.