Spanish
Santo Domingo.– The non-partisan civic movement Participación Ciudadana presented the proposed Framework Law on Climate Change of the Dominican Republic, an instrument aimed at providing the country with a comprehensive regulatory framework to address the climate crisis. The initiative was presented during the first ordinary meeting of 2025 of the Consultative Committee of the National Council for Climate Change and Carbon Market.
The proposal seeks to align national climate action with the National Development Strategy 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement, with the aim of turning the fight against climate change into a state policy. Among its main goals, the project sets out to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, with periodic reviews to increase ambition. To this end, it proposes the creation of a National Long-Term Climate Change Strategy and a National Adaptation Plan, ensuring the continuity of policies beyond government periods. The document proposes that key sectors such as energy, transportation, agriculture, water, health, and waste management define their own mitigation and adaptation goals, integrated into a common plan.You can also read: Citizen Participation calls for stopping untimely campaigns
Regarding governance, the initiative reinforces the role of the National Council for Climate Change as the governing body, accompanied by an Executive Office as the operational arm. Furthermore, it assigns specific responsibilities to ministries, local governments, and the private sector. To ensure inclusion, it contemplates a Stakeholder Participation Mechanism, in which civil society, academia, communities, and businesses would be integrated. The proposal also highlights the importance of transparency and accountability by establishing a National Climate Transparency System that incorporates measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) mechanisms for emissions, adaptation, and financing. It also mandates the publication of risk and vulnerability assessments every five years, with public access to the information. In terms of financing, the Framework Law contemplates a diversified strategy, which includes carbon taxes, sustainable bonds, climate insurance, public-private partnerships, and the creation of an Innovation Fund. It also incorporates the National REDD+ Strategy, aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, while promoting climate education and culture as axes of social transformation. "This Framework Law seeks to make climate action a State policy, with a strategic vision, strong institutional framework and transparency, for the benefit of present and future generations," highlighted Citizen Participation when presenting the initiative, whose complete details can be found on its website.
