Published:
The Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of Mauritania builds on the substantial experience accumulated by the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and its member States in using the EPR tool to regularly assess progress achieved in reconciling national economic and environmental objectives.
The review covers legal and policy frameworks and compliance assurance mechanisms. It also focuses on greening the economy; monitoring and assessment; and public participation in policymaking. It includes a substantive analysis of the country’s participation in and commitments to international agreements. The EPR also examines the efforts of Mauritania to integrate environmental considerations into its policies in the water, energy, agriculture, industry and health sectors. Furthermore, the EPR addresses issues of specific importance to Mauritania related to climate change, energy efficiency, air protection, water management, waste management, fisheries, biodiversity and protected areas. Lastly, the review includes an assessment of 82 SDG targets which are reviewed in several chapters from different perspectives. There are some cases, however, where a comprehensive analysis of the SDGs and their targets is hindered by the lack of data and information.
The EPR of Mauritania began in August 2022 with a preparatory mission to agree on the structure of the report and the schedule for its completion. A team of international experts took part in the review mission from 5 to 14 December 2022. The ECE Expert Group on Environmental Performance Reviews, during its meeting on 9 and 10 October 2023, discussed the draft report with a delegation from Mauritania, focusing on the conclusions and recommendations made by the international experts. The recommendations, with suggested amendments from the Expert Group, were then submitted for peer review to the ECE Committee on Environmental Policy at its twenty-eighth session on 1–3 November 2023, which was attended by a delegation of Mauritania led by the Minister of Environment of Mauritania. The Committee adopted the EPR recommendations at the session.
The Committee and the ECE secretariat are grateful to the Government of Mauritania and its experts who worked with the international experts and contributed their knowledge and expertise.
Sincere thanks also go to France and Germany, and to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) for making available the services of their experts for the preparation of this review.
In addition, ECE takes this opportunity to thank Austria, Germany and Switzerland for their financial support for the EPR Programme and expresses its deep appreciation to Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Romania and Switzerland for having provided their experts for the ECE Expert Group on Environmental Performance Reviews, which undertook the expert review of this report.