Introduction

The Somali provisional constitution of 2012 states in article 25 that everybody has a right to an environment that is not harmful to health and well-being. In addition, article 45 states that the government shall give priority to the protection of the environment and that it shall adopt general environmental policies.

However, in part due to the political instability of the last few decades, Somalia does not have a well-developed Environmental Assessment system. The NCEA is not aware of ESIA or SEA regulations at a federal level. 

The autonomous region of Puntland has introduced Environmental Policy in 2014 and the Puntland Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations in 2016. Project owners active in the region of Puntland should take these regulations into consideration. The draft regulations (2015) can be found online here

The autonomous region of Somaliland has also introduced an Environmental Management Act in 2014. This act introduces EIA as an instrument, as well as other environmental norms and standards. The Act can be found online here

Somali constitution: http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/research/Somalia-Constitution2012.pdf

Somaliland ministry of Environment and Rural Development: https://somalilandministryofenvironment.com/

Puntland ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Climate Change: http://www.moeaccpl.so/ 


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