Benin’s National Assembly Passes Climate Change Legislation

28 June 2018: Benin’s National Assembly has passed climate change legislation, making it one of the first countries to adopt such legislation. Going forward, the legislation is expected to help Benin prevent, protect against and manage the consequences of climate change.

Over the past three decades, the impacts of climate change in the country have led to, inter alia, a decrease in agricultural yields, the disruption of agricultural calendars, a drop in water levels in dams for drinking water supply, a prolonged period of low water and the submersion of banks. Speaking after the National Assembly’s vote on 18 June 2018, José Didier Tonato, Benin’s Minister of the Living Environment and Sustainable Development, said the legislation will enable alignment with international agreements, particularly the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Benin is undertaking awareness-raising campaigns on the negative impacts of of climate change.

Benin’s climate legislation aims to combat climate change and its negative impacts and increase the resilience of communities, as well as to enable effective response, adaptation and mitigation measures by setting objectives for sustainable development, security and energy efficiency, in accordance with national and international legal instruments related to climate change. The law requires that, going forward, all national- and local-level development strategies and programmes incorporate climate change.

Benin’s climate bill is one of the main results of a partnership between the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the Government of Benin, in collaboration with the Network of Benin Parliamentarians on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The process that led to the passage of the law began in 2017 and included several stages:

Preparation of the draft bill under UNDP supervision and within the framework of implementation of the Benin Preparation Project for access to the Green Climate Fund (GCF);
Review by national experts, international experts from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP, or UN Environment), magistrates, bailiffs, notaries, lawyers, planners, local elected officials, climatologists, and senior officials and diplomats; and
“Ownership” of the law by parliamentarians through exchanges and workshops.

Benin is also undertaking awareness-raising campaigns on the negative impacts of climate change. [UNDP Press Release] [UNDP Press Release in French]