Renforcer le cadre juridique de l’évaluation d’impact environnemental et social (EIES) dans le secteur minier à Madagascar

This executive summary, published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in April 2023, evaluates the legal and policy framework for Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) in Madagascar's mining sector. Based on the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) guidelines, the document identifies strengths in Madagascar's existing regulations and institutions while highlighting critical gaps regarding stability clauses, ministerial powers, permit sequencing, and public participation. It provides specific recommendations to align national laws with international best practices to ensure sustainable mining development.

• Madagascar possesses a generally coherent legal and institutional framework for ESIA, featuring up-to-date environmental texts and established implementing bodies. Key strengths include the 2015 revision of the environmental charter and the central role of the Office National pour l'Environnement (ONE) in coordinating the evaluation process.
• Broad stability clauses in mining legislation may hinder the application of updated environmental protections. Specifically, Article 93 of the law on large-scale mining investments (LGIM) and Article 154 of the mining code allow the state to 'freeze' legislation, potentially preventing the enforcement of modern environmental and social laws against protected mining companies.
• The Minister in charge of the environment possesses the authority to override negative technical opinions from the ONE. UnderS Under Article 28 of the MECIE decree, the Minister can commission a counter-expertise and, if the ONE maintains its negative view, the Minister may still issue the environmental permit using their own power, which risks approving socially or environmentally problematic projects.
• There is a lack of clear chronological sequencing between the issuance of mining exploitation permits and environmental permits. Current law, specifically Article 45 of the mining code, allows a promoter to obtain an exploitation permit based on a letter of commitment before the environmental permit is actually granted, treating the latter as a formality.
• Public participation in the ESIA process is insufficient because it occurs too late in the cycle. Local communities are typically only involved after the promoter has already submitted the ESIA report to the government, excluding them from critical early stages such as scoping and report drafting.
• To improve the framework, the document recommends removing or strictly limiting stability clauses to fiscal matters, making the environmental permit a mandatory prerequisite for the exploitation permit, and involving the public from the initial scoping phase of the ESIA.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). Renforcer le cadre juridique de l’évaluation d’impact environnemental et social (EIES) dans le secteur minier à Madagascar. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/cadre-juridique-eies-secteur-minier-madagascar.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Renforcer le cadre juridique de l’évaluation d’impact environnemental et social (EIES) dans le secteur minier à Madagascar. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/cadre-juridique-eies-secteur-minier-madagascar.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Renforcer le cadre juridique de l’évaluation d’impact environnemental et social (EIES) dans le secteur minier à Madagascar |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/cadre-juridique-eies-secteur-minier-madagascar.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndrenforcer, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Renforcer le cadre juridique de l’évaluation d’impact environnemental et social (EIES) dans le secteur minier à Madagascar}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/cadre-juridique-eies-secteur-minier-madagascar.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }