Mauritius: Environmental, Social and Governance

a. There is currently no statutory duty to implement net zero business strategies in Mauritius. However, Mauritius is a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) since September 1992, which aims to prevent “dangerous” human interface with the climate system. Mauritius has signed the Paris Agreement on climate change on 22 April 2016 and the Kyoto Protocol under the UNFCCC on 9 May 2001 which aims to limit and reduce greenhouse gases emissions in industrialised countries and economies.

Mauritius has enacted the Climate Change Act 2020 in November 2020 which has the main object to implement, with a view to addressing the adverse effects of climate change and developing Mauritius into a greener economy, the obligations of Mauritius under the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement and any other related instrument on climate change.

b. There is no express regulation on carbon offsets and their use to meet net zero or carbon neutral commitments. Regulatory regimes covering consumer protection or advertising standards may be relevant relating to unsubstantiated claims connected with carbon offsets, but these regimes do not directly regulate the use of offsets.

c. There is currently no precedent for this basis of action in Mauritius.

d. There is currently no precedent for this basis of action in Mauritius.

There is currently no legislation requiring projects to demonstrate biodiversity net gain to receive development consent.

The Environment Protection Act 2002 (“EPA”) provides for control over land use planning and development through the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) and Preliminary Environmental Report (“PER”) mechanisms. EIA and PER enable project promoters to take into consideration environmental issues at the stage of conception and planning. As per the Planning and Development Act 2004, an application for development permit shall be accompanied by any relevant application for an EIA Licence or a preliminary environmental report as may be required under the EPA.

There are no current mandatory requirements to report on water usage in Mauritius.

There is currently no precedent for this basis of action in Mauritius.

There are no laws that place any duties on producers, distributers or retailers of products to ensure levels of recycling or to incorporate a proportionate amount of recycled materials in product construction. However, given the increasing focus on recycling in Mauritius, the Government issued the Local Government (Registration of Recycler and Exporter) Regulations in 2013 imposing an obligation on any person wishing to dismantle, recycle or export waste to be registered under these regulations.

By virtue of the Environment Protection (Control of Single Use Plastic Products) Regulations 2020, there is a ban on the importation of certain specified non-biodegradable single use plastic products for home consumption, manufacturing, possession, sale, supply or use in Mauritius. There is also a ban, in light of the Environment Protection (Banning of Plastic Bags) Regulations 2020, on the possession, use, distribution, sale, export, import, manufacturing and supply of plastic bags in Mauritius, save for certain exempt plastic bags.

Under the Workers’ Rights Act 2019:

1. The principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value is provided and is applicable even to workers employed by a job contractor appointed by the principal employer.
2. Set elements have been listed to determine any discrimination based on the sex of a worker
3. Workers of a subsidiary company performing work of equal value as a worker employed by another subsidiary company of the parent company, or the parent company, operating in the same line of business must not be treated differently in terms of salary and terms and conditions of employment.
4. The terms and conditions of a worker employed on a fixed term contract must not be less favourable than those of a worker employed permanently and performing the same or similar work, having regard whether they have similar level of qualifications, skills or experience.
5. Where there is a vacancy in full-time or permanent workforce, priority for consideration must be (as far as practicable) to a part-time worker or to a worker on fixed duration in the same category and grade.
6. Where a worker replaces another worker drawing a higher remuneration, and to perform the same level of work as the higher remunerated worker, the worker replacing must be paid the remuneration corresponding to the initial salary in the salary scale (if any) of the other worker, or the salary drawn by the higher remunerated worker (whichever is applicable).

Under the Equal Opportunities Act 2008:

1. Indirect discrimination, direct discrimination and discrimination by victimisation is prohibited on the basis of status, i.e. age, caste, colour, creed, ethnic origin, impairment, marital status, place of origin, political opinion, race, sex or sexual orientation.
2. It is mandatory for an employer to draw up and apply an equal opportunity policy to promote recruitment, training, selection, and employment based on merit, to ensure suitable working conditions for women and men and to facilitate gainful employment and parenthood for female and male employees.
3. Various set forms of discrimination during the employment of persons and against persons in employment is prohibited.
4. Sexual harassment including unwelcome sexual advance or unwelcome request for a sexual favor or making or issuing an unwelcome oral or written statement of a sexual nature to a person or in the presence of a person is an offence and punishable with a fine not exceeding MUR 100,000 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
5. An Equal Opportunities Commission and the Equal Opportunities Tribunal have been set out to deal and investigate with complaints on discrimination.

The National Code of Corporate Governance (“Code”) which is applicable to public interest entities, public sector organizations and all the companies generally, even though not binding, provides for diversity at board level which is commensurate with the sophistication and scale of the organization. The Code encourages all boards to adopt a non-discrimination policy that covers its senior governance positions, including disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender realignment, race, religion, belief and age. Pursuant to the Code, a statement of the board’s policy on diversity, including gender and the objectives for implementation of the policy and progress in achieving the objectives, must be included in the annual reports of companies.

There are currently no specific ESG legal duties on employers to treat employees fairly and with respect.

There is a requirement for all employees in Mauritius to be paid the monthly national minimum wage. Furthermore, the Workers’ Rights Act 2019 provides for additional remuneration to compensation for the increase in cost of living which is prescribed by way of regulations.

a. There are currently no statutory duties to perform due diligence on the supply chain relating to human rights. Nonetheless, the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act 2009 imposes criminal sanctions and penalties on all forms of human trafficking, including all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery and sex trafficking of adults or children.

b. There is currently no precedent for this basis of action in Mauritius.

a. There are currently no statutory duties to perform due diligence on the supply chain relating to impact on human rights. As aforementioned, the EPA provides for an approval of PWR or an EIA licence depending on the sectors and activities. Both the PER and EIA report must include information on and assessments of the social, economic, cultural, adverse environmental and any other impact which an undertaking can have on the environment, people and society.

b. There is currently no precedent for this basis of action in Mauritius.

There is currently no precedent for this basis of action in Mauritius.

There is currently no precedent for this basis of action in Mauritius.

There is currently no precedent for this basis of action in Mauritius.

There is no specific reference in the Companies Act 2001 (‘CA’) for directors to oversee environmental and social impacts except for the fact that Section 158 of the CA provides that a director must exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence in performing his or her duties. This duty extends to the consideration of environmental and social impacts of the company’s activities in line with Section 2 of the EPA which declares that ‘every person in Mauritius shall use his best endeavours to preserve and enhance the quality of life by caring responsibly for the natural environment of Mauritius’.

Furthermore, the Code which applies to companies includes principles relating to the management of environmental and social risks. Principle 6 of the Code elaborates on reporting with integrity and advises that the Board should present a fair, balanced and understandable assessment of the organisation’s financial, environmental, social and governance position, performance, and outlook, in its annual report and on its website.

There are currently no precedents for this basis of action in Mauritius.

There are no mandatory requirements. In 2018, the Financial Services Commission issued a guidance note on the incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into investment decision-making. The guidance note provides voluntary guidelines for financial institutions on how to integrate ESG factors into their investment analysis and decision-making processes.

Furthermore, in September 2015, the Stock Exchange of Mauritius has launched the SEM Sustainability Index (“SEMSI”), which tracks the performance of listed companies based on their ESG practices. The index provides a benchmark for companies to measure their ESG performance and encourages them to adopt sustainable practices.

There is no specific ESG legislation in place in Mauritius yet, but there are ESG-related legal frameworks in place.

In April 2022, the Bank of Mauritius issued the Guideline on Climate-related and Environmental Financial Risk Management. It is stipulated therein that financial institutions shall have a framework for reporting climate-related and environmental financial risks which shall, as a minimum, include timely provision of relevant information to their board of directors and senior management, on at least a half-yearly basis, on material risks as well as on opportunities.

No. Listed companies, guided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, produce a Sustainability Report annually which include a section on energy consumption.

No. Listed companies, guided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, produce a Sustainability Report annually which include a section on gender pay gaps.

There is currently no specific statutory responsibility to report on modern day slavery in the supply chain.