The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) has been mandated by the National Assembly to revise the Law on Environmental Protection (LEP) 2014 and kicked off a revision process last June. One focus is on updating the Chapter on Climate Change to better match requirements resulting from the international climate change framework.

The amended draft LEP was appraised by the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Government and submitted to the National Assembly’s Committee of Science, Technology and Environment (CSTE). Also, the MONRE Minister requested the International Cooperation Department to consult with international agencies on a number of controversial issues. As a next step, CSTE and other National Assembly Committees will provide feedback and comments before the draft is submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee. Subsequently, the bill will be widely reviewed in the plenary session in May, and is expected to be passed into law in the plenary session in October 2020.

The SIPA project has continued to provide technical advice to MONRE for revision of the Climate Change Chapter in the amended LEP (click here for further information). In mid-February, a two-day writing retreat was organised during which the Climate Change Chapter was completed.