Togo Wants to Update Its Framework Law on the Environment
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 10:13 
(Togo First) - Togo wants to update its environmental framework law. Recently, stakeholders from the private and public sectors gathered in Lomé, the capital, to validate the updated law’s draft. Falling under the country’s 2025 roadmap, the update aims to modernize environmental and forestry regulations and tackle rising issues in these areas.
Before the draft’s development, the environmental and forestry regulation was examined, at the national level, and the best regulation practices, at the international level, were studied. Thus, during the recent validation workshop, participants assessed amendments to the former law and gathered all stakeholders’ suggestions and observations. The meeting was a crucial step in refining the new law before it is sent to the government's general secretariat.
The former law, it is worth noting, is 15 years old. "The 2008 Framework Law on the Environment fulfilled its mission by establishing several bodies such as the National Sustainable Development Commission, the National Environmental Management Agency, the National Environment Fund, and the Environment Policy. It has therefore become necessary to revise this legislative text and take into account emerging themes as well as mechanisms related to climate change and finance," said Colonel Koffi Dimizou, Secretary General of the Ministry.
Supported by the West African Coastal Management Program (WACA ResIP), among others, the update is part of Lomé's "environmental legislation overhaul", which lines up with the Togo 2025 roadmap. These recent developments in Togo follow draft laws on climate change and protected areas, as well as the enactment of a decree on carbon mechanisms and the recent approval of the forestry policy document.
