Anse Royale, Seychelles – A delegation from the National Assembly participated in a high-level UNEP workshop on ‘Strengthening Capacities to Develop a Robust and Coordinated Nationally Sustainable Enhanced Transparency Framework in Seychelles’, held from April 27-30, 2026 at L’Escale Resort.
The delegation included vice-chairperson of the Committee on Environment, Fisheries & Tourism (CEFT), Hon. John Hoareau, Hon. Sathya Naidu, Hon. Claudette Louise, and deputy Clerk Alexandria Faure. The four-day programme featured presentations and group work on data governance, climate change legislation frameworks, institutional mapping, progress tracking, and policy decision-making.
Words, Words, Words
Hon. Hoareau noted: “The workshop provided me with in-depth knowledge on Seychelles’ NDC commitments under the Paris Agreement and highlighted the urgency of adopting climate governance legislation to guide our efforts.”
This is the language of international climate diplomacy – urgent, comprehensive, framework-focused. But Seychellois have heard similar rhetoric for years now, at countless workshops, conferences, and training sessions. The question is: when does the capacity-building end and the actual action begin?
Transparency About What, Exactly?
The workshop was coordinated under the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Partnership Action Fund (PAF) project, which “supports governance for effective implementation of NDCs and Paris Agreement obligations.”
In simpler terms: Seychelles receives international funding to develop systems for reporting on climate commitments. Whether those commitments are actually being met is another matter entirely.
The facilitators – experts from UNEP’s Law Division, Copenhagen Climate Centre, and Climate Transparency programmes – undoubtedly provided valuable technical knowledge. But one wonders whether yet another workshop on “data governance” and “institutional mapping” is what Seychelles really needs right now, or whether resources would be better spent on actual climate adaptation infrastructure.
From Workshops to Legislation?
Hon. Louise and Hon. Naidu described the sessions as “deeply enriching and insightful”, emphasising the need for “improved data collection, collaboration, and sensitisation across ministries.”
Fair enough. But Seychelles has been attending climate conferences and capacity-building workshops for decades. The country has signed international agreements, developed national action plans, and participated in countless training sessions. At some point, the endless cycle of consultation and framework development starts to look less like preparation and more like procrastination.
The Real Question
Led by UNEP’s Law Division in collaboration with the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre and Climate Change Division, the project aims to “strengthen Seychelles’ transparency systems to meet international reporting requirements, inform domestic climate policy, guide investment decisions, and enhance accountability.”
That’s a lot of objectives. What’s noticeably absent is any mention of concrete outcomes, measurable targets, or accountability mechanisms if those systems don’t actually materialize.
Seychelles faces real, immediate climate threats: rising sea levels, coastal erosion, extreme weather events, and coral bleaching. While National Assembly delegates attend workshops on “transparency frameworks,” these threats continue to intensify.
The uncomfortable question is whether Seychelles’ climate response has become more focused on managing international perceptions than addressing domestic realities. Workshops are easier than building seawalls. Frameworks are cheaper than relocating vulnerable communities. And transparency systems look good in international reports, even if they don’t actually stop the ocean from rising.
Perhaps next time, instead of flying in international consultants to teach Seychellois legislators about “data governance,” we could invest those resources in actual climate adaptation projects that might make a tangible difference to the people living on our coastlines.
Just a thought.
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