EU, Mauritius step up partnership on climate change

The European Union and the Republic of Mauritius step up their partnership in climate change. (Source: Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles)

Said Marjaana Sall, ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius: "I am proud that the first ever High Level Policy Dialogue on Climate Change with the Government of Mauritius is taking place today. The European Union is a strong supporter of multilateralism, and as such, we remain committed, with our member states, to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. We believe that there is an unprecedented urgency to step up global efforts to halt and reverse climate change, in particular for small island states like Mauritius. As a concrete result of our dialogue, we have jointly agreed on a management framework that will allow us to step up our cooperation on climate change and to monitor progress in the fight against climate change. It will be a continuous exercise."

She added: "I take this opportunity to announce our new support to the Government of Mauritius for an amount of 120 million rupees to boost innovation in agriculture to be more resilient to the effects of climate change."

Continuous dialogue monitoring progress

The dialogue provides a structured platform to discuss key climate-related policy issues in the framework of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) that Mauritius presented in Paris in 2015. It is also an occasion to discuss how the European Union, including its member states, can further assist government in meeting its mitigation and adaptation commitments. This is a continuous dialogue to monitor progress and see how the EU and Mauritius can work together.

The EU and Mauritius have agreed on a Joint Management Framework on Climate Change which is focused on six objectives that will be jointly monitored:

• To comply with Nationally Determined Contribution target to mitigate climate change, subject to support from international sources,
  
• To improve coastal zone resilience,
  
• To implement an effective national disaster risk reduction strategy,
  
• To enhance resilience against high intensity rainfall events,
  
• To reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting low carbon technologies and awareness raising on energy conservation in line with the NDC, and
  
• To increase native forest cover to enhance the climate resilience of natural ecosystems (including mangroves).