Attachments
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Mauritius, like many island nations, is exposed to multiple hazards, several of which are being exacerbated by climate change. The most common natural hazards posing a significant risk to Mauritius include tropical cyclones and flooding. The country’s geographical location in the middle of the Southwest Indian Ocean Cyclone Basin means it is frequently exposed to tropical cyclones, floods, and torrential rains. Tropical cyclones and floods have contributed to Mauritius experiencing approximately US$110 million in combined direct losses each year. Tropical cyclones account for about 80% of average annual losses for all hazards, while flooding accounts for the remaining 20%.
Increased urbanization in flood-prone regions has heightened flood risks and posed challenges for building resilience against recurring floods. Notably, in 2013, the capital, Port Louis, experienced flash floods that led to the deaths of 11 people. Since gaining independence in 1968, the country has successfully diversified economically beyond sugar production. The gross domestic product (GDP), among the highest of African countries, grew more rapidly than the population in the 1990s and 2000s and contributed to Mauritius’ current World Bank ranking as an upper-middle income country. Mauritius has developed an open, free, democratic, and competitive political system. Moreover, it has built a substantial social security system with pensions and social aid, and the government provides free education, bus transport, and basic health services as part of a strong primary healthcare system. These social safety nets have played a critical role in substantively lowering the poverty rate to 9.6% in 2017; estimates indicate that the poverty rate would have been approximately 34% without the social welfare programs.
The government of Mauritius, in recent years, has revised the disaster management structure as well as climate change policies and plans to address threats posed by climate hazards as part of a larger effort to make the island nation more sustainable. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2016 laid out the roles and functions of the major components of Mauritius’ disaster management architecture. The 2016 Act also detailed the roles of agencies activated during times of disaster or crisis, particularly the National Crisis Committee, National Emergency Operations Command, and Local Emergency Operations Commands. The Act was accompanied by a national policy, strategic framework, and action plan on disaster risk reduction and management for the period 2020-2030.
Mauritius has set a robust climate change goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. The Climate Change Act of 2020 established a legal framework for making Mauritius a climate-change-resilient and low- emission country. It established several new entities focused on climate change and outlined their functions, powers, and compositions; they include the Department of Climate Change, Inter-Ministerial Council on Climate Change, and Climate Change Committee. The development of accompanying national strategies and action plans on climate change were also mandated.6 Mauritius engages with a variety of regional and international partners to harness resources in support of realizing its disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation and adaptation goals. Among these partnerships, Mauritius works closely with the United States (U.S.) on regional security and maritime law enforcement in the Indian Ocean.