2 - Democracia ambiental em Moçambique: congruências legais e contradições práticas

Abstract

In the last decades, the protection of the environment towards a sustainable development is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. This research aims to understand Mozambique’s commitment to attentive governance that promotes Environmental Democracy. This qualitative research is theoretical (bibliographic-documental) and makes use of the analytical and comparative method to find an answer to the following problem: Mozambique has always been present at international summits on the environment, signed the various protocols, consistently agreed, but it still faces difficulties in pursuing the objectives set at the level of governance (legislative, executive and judicial). There are several obstacles in Mozambique’s journey to become a Democratic State of Environmental Law, in line with environmental law recognized as a human right. The results of this research are challenging: in Mozambique there is little talk of environmental democracy, and the local literature on the subject is scarce. The need for greater and direct public participation in the implementation processes of major projects for the exploitation of natural resources and investments that delay the local development is widely recognized. Giuseppe Meloni, University Professor, General Director of the Instituto Superior Dom Bosco (ISDB) – Maputo, Mozambique. Email: meloniscj@gmail.com Ana Lúcia César Machanguia, Instituto Superior Mutasa (Management), Mozambique. PhD student in Social Sustainability and Development, Universidade Aberta de Lisboa, Portugal. Email: analumachanguia@gmail.com