Niger’s constitution contains provisions for environmental protection, beginning with Article 35, which states:
“Any person has the right to a healthy environment. The State has the obligation to protect the environment in the interest of present and future generations. Each one is required to contribute to the safeguarding and to the improvement of the environment in which he lives. The acquisition, the storage, the handling and the disposal of toxic wastes or pollutants originating from factories and other industrial or handwork [artisanales] sites, installed on the national territory[,] are regulated by the law. The transit, importation, storage, landfill, [and] dumping on the national territory of foreign pollutants or toxic wastes, as well as any agreement relating [to it] constitute a crime against the Nation, punished by the law”.
Article 36 reads: “The State and the other public collectivities see to the fight against desertification”.
Lastly, Article 37 ensures that The national and international enterprises have the obligation to respect the legislation in force in environmental matters. They are required to protect human health and to contribute to the safeguarding [of it] as well as to the improvement of the environment.
