Mauritius: The “Roadmap and Action Plan for a Circular Economy in the Republic of Mauritius” is about the steps and actions that we need to take towards achieving the vision of becoming a nation that makes use of resources judiciously, generates less waste in the supply chain and share the economic potential this transition brings.
This statement was made this morning by the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Kavydass Ramano, at the opening of a Workshop to validate the ‘Roadmap and Action Plan for a Circular Economy in the Republic of Mauritius’ and, to reflect on its implementation, at the Caudan Arts Centre in Port-Louis.
The Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to the Republic of Mauritius, Vincent Degert, was also present. The Minister also proceeded with launching a video clip and a website on Circular Economy.
In his address, Minister Ramano highlighted that the development of the Roadmap is yet another milestone which bears testimony to the commitment of the Government to achieve the much sought after “transition écologique” in line with the Ministry’s Master Plan for the Environment.
He expressed gratitude to the EU and UNEP through the SWITCH Africa Green project for assisting his Ministry in formulating the Roadmap to accelerate the country’s transition towards a circular economy.
Kavydass Ramano stressed that it was high time to shift our focus to resource management and understand the opportunities to go circular with our resources. He pointed out that the country’s current linear economic model is not sustainable both economically and environmentally and urgently needs to move from a linear to a circular economy based on extended product life cycles, intelligent product design, favouring reuse, repair, recycling, repurposing, and remanufacturing.
He said this will design out waste and pollution and offer substantial economic benefits.
The Environment Minister further remarked that transition to a circular economy is no longer a choice, but a necessity, especially for us as a Small Island Developing State, which needs to navigate on an affordable, resilient, and feasible path by having in place an economy where circular business models become mainstream.
Ramano underlined that implementing the Roadmap will respond to the aspirations of this year’s Budget 2023-2024, “continuing the transformation of Mauritius into a Sustainable Economy”.
He expressed conviction that the Roadmap on Circular Economy will provide an opportunity to address the existing resource constraints and significantly contribute to the aspiration of building a carbon-neutral, climate-resilient and prosperous economy as well as meeting our targets of the Nationally Determined Contributions.
In addition, he dwelt on consumers’ key role in fostering the transition to a circular economy by editing their choices and making informed decisions.
On that score, the Minister announced the implementation of a new project in collaboration with local authorities, “Creating sustainable communities through local authorities”, which consists of developing sharing platforms to leverage circular initiatives at the community level.
A series of “Marché à puce” in view of raising awareness on circular practices, including repair, reuse, repurpose, recycle, recovery and the availability and accessibility of circular products, and incentivising a behaviour change, will be organised across the island, indicated Ramano.
As for the EU Ambassador, he also raised the alarm about the impacts of the current production and consumption pattern based on a linear model, including environmental degradation due to resource extraction, increased waste generation and depletion of the stock of resources.
According to Mr Vincent Degert, we should urgently act to save our suffocating planet, including shifting to a circular economy. He stressed that Government has to ensure the proper implementation of the Roadmap and action plan in Mauritius while pointing to the need to involve children and the youth and sensitise the population at large to change their deep-rooted habits as consumers.
Development of a roadmap on circular economy for the Republic of Mauritius
For a holistic approach to a circular economy paradigm, it was proposed to develop a Roadmap on circular economy to provide for a shared vision, the strategies, policies and goals, enabling instruments, incentives, regulatory and institutional frameworks as well as building synergies among national stakeholders in the identified key sectors. With the collaborative support of UNEP, a national consultant was recruited to develop a Roadmap for Circular Economy for the Republic of Mauritius.
The objectives of the project are:
• To develop a Roadmap on Circular Economy to provide the strategic orientation to bring circularity in key economic sectors such as (i) Agri-food systems: (ii) Construction; (iii) Consumer Goods; (iv) Solid Waste Management; (v) Transport and Logistics; and Sustainable Consumption and Production as cross-cutting, with focus on Education and Procurement;
• To develop a Costed Action Plan for each of the identified key economic sectors; and
• To develop a set of indicators to monitor the implementation of the Roadmap on Circular Economy.
