Policy Briefs
Managing Sudan’s Environment and Natural Wealth for An Equitable and Green Future
No.
PB 86
Publisher
ERF
Date
August, 2022
Topic
Q5. Environmental Economics
O1. Economic Development
In a nutshell
- Reforming the way natural wealth is exploited is necessary for establishing justice, lasting peace, and sustainable development in Sudan.
- Sudan is clearly on an unsustainable development path, as the revenues from the liquidation of its exhaustible natural assets are wasted on current consumption. Implementing measures for recovering and reinvesting sufficient shares of the resource rent in environmental conservation and alternative forms of capital is badly needed.
- The widespread use of mercury in artisanal mining seriously harms the health of the country’s ecosystems and population, especially women. This calls for instituting environmental regulations consistent with the provisions of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
- Environmentally friendly substitutes for mercury must be found for the many people dependent on artisanal mining for their livelihoods.
- Raising the environmental awareness of the public is crucial for reducing pollution from waste and protecting the environment.
- Significant opportunities exist for public and private sector investments and the creation of employment opportunities in waste segregation and recycling for youth and women.
- Sudan’s efforts in managing climate disaster risks should focus on relocating the vulnerable millions who currently reside in areas prone to floods.
- Despite their huge potential to significantly contribute to sustainable rural economic development and livelihoods, terrestrial and marine protected areas (PAs) are under serious threat. This calls for an urgent need to institute the PA management strategy and wildlife policy that is currently under review.
- Exploiting the many opportunities to develop recreational spaces and allow the public to access the generous natural open spaces and spread of riverbanks is needed to promote sustainable urban living quality across the country.
- Switching from road to river modes of public transport in the city of Khartoum presents an opportunity for significant environmental and socio-economic co-benefits (reduced fossil fuel emissions, a natural infrastructure without a need for railway or road infrastructure, and lucrative tourism opportunities).
- Sudan must exploit its huge decarbonization potential by switching to renewable energy (solar and wind) and making this a strategic development priority.
- Innovative microcredit and climate risk insurance instruments are necessary for increasing the climate resilience of small farmers and pastoralists.
- A big governance challenge facing the peace process in Sudan is the resolution of disputes over land rights, particularly for the millions displaced from their homelands due to armed conflicts in their regions.
- Current investment policies that incentivize expansions in large-scale agriculture and mining through land lease concessions that disadvantage local communities need to be critically reviewed.
- Omitting the fulfillment of environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) standards and protocols from the basic requirements for licensing investment activities in the newly approved investment encouragement law of 2021 is an unfortunate and serious legislative omission that should be urgently corrected.
- Examples of potential sources of institutional policy failures to be addressed include whether land, forest, and protected areas should be considered national or state resources to be governed by federal or state regulations.
Research Fellows
Rashid Hassan
Emeritus Professor, CEEPA, Faculty of Natural and...