On 21 November 2022, the Ministerial Diploma no. 118/2022, which approves the Directive of Independent Specialist Reviewers of Environmental Impact Assessments for Category A+ activities, was officially published by the Impresa Nacional de Moçambique. This is a legal tool, complementary to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, which establishes the procedures regarding the registration and intervention of Independent Specialist Reviewers (IEs) in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process of Category A+ Activities or Projects already regulated by Decree no. 54/2015 of 31 December.
With this legal instrument, Mozambique is now able to require an independent environmental and social assessment by external entities called Independent Specialist Reviewers (REI) for activities categorised as A+, which can include public or private activities or projects of a certain complexity, location and/or irreversibility and magnitude of predicted environmental and social impacts. The REI need to have proven experience and duly registered by the Environmental Impact Assessment Authority in Mozambique.
This initiative was led by the National Directorate of Environment (DINAB) of the Ministry of Land and Environment (MTA) with the support of the COMBO+ Program, an international initiative led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) with the Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation (BIOFUND) as a partner entity, and funded by the World Bank/ MozBio 2 Project and UNDP/ BIOSFAC Project.