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In April 2012, in Nouakchott, Mauritania ratified the Convention for Cooperation in the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Atlantic Coast of the West, Central and Southern African Region (Abidjan Convention).

Mauritania has undertaken to implement the international regulations against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing , which came into force on 1 January 2010. Under these regulations, vessels must be registered, be in possession of a fishing licence, and each trip out to sea has to be declared. Products exported by processors or shipowners (approved by the sanitary authorities) must be traceable.

Mauritania has advantages for the development of renewable energy: a wind power potential of 7 9 m/second on average on the coast; and solar energy potential of 3.5–6 kWh/m²/d for eight hours each day. According to the authorities, an additional 280 megawatts of solar power were available in 2017.

Gold production started in 2007. Together with copper, gold mining represents about 2.6% of GDP (2016). The main producer, Tasiast, is wholly owned by a Canada based company, Kinross. It operates gold mines some 300 km north of Nouakchott under a mining agreement with the Mauritanian State. (...) The Tasiast gold mine reportedly presents serious environmental and social dangers, in particular from cyanide pollution, air pollution, (...)

The Government's ambition for the coming five years is to promote this sector so as to develop its potential for creating jobs and combating poverty, while observing the principles of sustainable development

The policy implemented by the Government involves an ambitious modern infrastructure programme that responds to the country's economic development, environmental and social needs

Aid for trade provided by the World Bank is targeted on the mining sector, and on sustainable development and water supply

The situation with respect to sanitary and phytosanitary controls is characterized by the presence of several different services without proper coordination, including, inter alia, the Ministry in charge of fisheries, for fishery product quality control via the Fishery Product Promotion Directorate (DPPP); and the Ministry of Rural Development and the Environment (MDRE), for phytosanitary and animal health controls, applied by the Agriculture and Livestock Directorates, respectively

Mauritania has no regulations concerning GMOs, although the authorities state that they are conforming with the directives of the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS)

Although the Government has declared sustainability to be a concern since 1998, up until now Mauritania has opted in favour of income from fisheries by selling licences to foreign fleets, thereby contributing towards intensified exploitation of its resources rather than to developing better integrated fishing on a smaller scale, although Mauritania has also undertaken to implement international regulations against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing