Burkina Faso adopts two laws on carbon and the high seas
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Sidwaya
Burkinabè MPs unanimously adopted two laws on Monday 9 November 2026 in Ouagadougou, one on the framework for carbon initiatives and the other on ratification of the United Nations Convention on Marine Biodiversity in the High Seas. The plenary session, chaired by the president of the People's Legislative Assembly (ALP), Ousmane Bougouma, brought together 71 voters, according to the Burkinabè public press Sidwaya.
The first text submitted to the elected members authorises ratification of the convention signed in 2023, which aims to preserve the biological resources of the high seas. For Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, Burkina Faso, a landlocked country, is directly concerned: the high seas constitute a common heritage whose management also concerns states without a coastline. Ratification will pave the way, according to him, for the country's participation in the work of the Conference of the Parties and the monitoring committees provided for by the agreement, as well as scientific cooperation with states parties.
The Burkinabè head of diplomacy linked the preservation of marine ecosystems to the balances of temperature, winds and rainfall on which Sahelian agriculture depends. The second text sets the framework for carbon initiatives carried out on Burkinabè territory, in a country seeking to make its credits count in international offset mechanisms. The adoption of these two laws is part of a strengthening of Burkina Faso's legal framework for climate governance, according to Sidwaya. Summary: Burkina Faso's People's Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted two laws: one regulates carbon initiatives, the other authorises ratification of the 2023 treaty on marine biodiversity in the high seas. The vote took place on 9 November 2026 in Ouagadougou, according to Sidwaya.
