Gwen van Boven
Technical secretary
In August 2018, Rwanda adopted its new Environment Law, which paved the way for a revision of Ministerial Orders on EIA and SEA. In the years thereafter, the Ministry of Environment asked for the NCEAs input on those legal texts on several occasions.
Significant details
This involvement has a longer history. Since April 2016, at the request of the Rwanda Environment Authority (REMA), the NCEA has been providing inputs for the draft SEA regulation that the REMA was developing. Later in the year, Rwanda adopted a new Constitution. One of the consequences of the Constitution was the reduction of the number of Organic Laws, to be replaced by Laws. This included the Organic Law on the Environment. The revision process was coordinated by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MINIRENA), with involvement of REMA. The development of the SEA regulation was put on hold during the drafting of the new Environment Law.
In August 2016, REMA and MINIRENA asked the NCEA to provide observations on the elements in the draft Environment Law relating to environmental assessment.
In June 2018, the Ministry of Environment asked the NCEA to advise on the integration of SEA in the draft Environment and Climate Change policy.
In June 2020, the Ministry of Environment asked the NCEA questions on the scope of application of SEA, as input to the development of the SEA regulation.