In June 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries (Ministério da Agricultura, Ambiente e Pescas – MAAP) of Mozambique requested support from the NCEA under the newly established Memorandum of Understanding (2025–2030). The requested support focuses on strengthening institutional capacity in environmental planning and assessment, particularly in the areas of Environmental Impact Assessment (AIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (AAE), and spatial and sectoral planning. The NCEA has maintained a long-standing collaboration with Mozambican institutions since 1999. This new MoU builds on the two previous agreements (2012–2019) with former environment-related ministries, and formalizes a five-year cooperation framework that will include annual action planning and joint monitoring.
Late 2025, the NCEA again visited Mozambique. During our visit, our Director International Dennis van Peppen signed an MoU with the Secretary of State for Land and Environment, Gustavo Dgedge, in the presence of the Minister of MAAP, Roberto Mito Albino, and Deputy Minister for Cooperation of the Netherlands, Pascalle Grotenhuis. The agreed actions are amongst other support for:
- Review of Environmental and Social Management Plans of the Moatize coal mining in Tete province;
- The establishment of an independent body for environmental assessment and licensing;
- Improving land use planning and SEA and for making SEA a legal instrument;
- The digitization of the environmental licensing system.
Early 2026 a meeting will be organized to further discuss and possibly extend the list of joint activities.
In addition, the NCEA and MAAP together with IUCN-Mozambique and the Dutch funded MozWater program's Implementing Parties (IPs) (DNGRH, ARA-Centro and ARA-Norte) co-organized a workshop under the theme ‘A new approach to River Basin Planning: Integrating with SEA and territorial plans’. This is expected to lead to a working session in 2026 with the IPs to gain a deeper level of understanding of the new approach and to embed it in a work plan.