Law 07/2014 on Environmental Protection

This law defines the principles and means of environmental protection in Gabon, including the preservation and sustainable use of natural resources, pollution control, environmental education, and environmental information and monitoring. It refers to a series of pertaining plans and tools, such as a climate action plan, a national environmental plan and an environmental information system.

 

• Environmental impact assessment: Industrial or mining projects must undergo a prior environmental impact assessment (Article 30). This assessment must identify and implement the measures necessary to prevent or eliminate the project's adverse effects on the environment (Article 32). These measures must be included in the operating permit. This supports the necessary project appraisal with due public consultation. There are also provisions concerning auditing, information provision, sanctions, and transitory dispositions. 
• Recovery and recycling: All industrial incineration operations must include an energy recovery component (Article 48). In addition, gas from flares must be recovered for energy purposes (Article 49).  
• Environmental information: The law provides for the establishment of an environmental information system, which must include an environmental database (Article 17). It also provides for the establishment of a national inventory system for GHG emission sources (Articles 41 and 53). In addition, all private operations are required to prepare a carbon footprint assessment to evaluate the volumes or quantities of GHGs produced by their operations or activities in order to ensure their reduction (Article 42). 
• Emission thresholds: The release of any gas into the atmosphere above the thresholds set by regulation is prohibited (Article 54). However, the IEA has not been able to determine whether these thresholds apply to the release of methane into the atmosphere.  
• Obligation to reduce and offset: The Environmental Protection Act provides that large-scale natural resource extraction or processing operations have a general obligation to ensure the reduction and offsetting of their GHG emissions (Section 40).  

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