An evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MAE) has identified significant shortcomings in the environmental management practices of the Provincial Government of Guayas. The findings are detailed in Technical Report No. MAE-DCA-INF-2025-0227, which documents 68 non-conformities—65 classified as major and three as minor—in the execution of delegated environmental responsibilities.
Following a review process that included responses from the provincial government, MAE issued a final report confirming 45 non-conformities. This assessment was part of an accreditation follow-up audit carried out between October 21 and 24, 2025, covering activities from 2018 to 2024.
The Subsecretariat for Environmental Quality at MAE plans to conduct another audit for the year 2025. This period is notable because it marks when the Prefecture assumed environmental duties previously suspended from the Municipality of Guayaquil in January 2025.
Minister Inés Manzano emphasized MAE’s constitutional mandate to oversee and verify that delegated environmental competencies are executed according to national regulations. “The MAE has delegated the competence to several GADs after accreditation processes. And our job is to control permanently to ensure these competencies are fulfilled. Assume and comply. There are repeated areas of concern. Therefore, as MAE, we want these non-conformities corrected,” she stated.
According to the report, about 95.6% of major non-conformities point to structural failures such as unresolved environmental procedures dating back to 2019—including 265 Environmental Certificates, 1,973 Environmental Registrations, and 258 Environmental Licenses—some pending closure for over 2,000 days without evidence of effective documentation management.
Technical deficiencies were also found in reviewing Environmental Impact Studies, meeting legal deadlines, managing environmental insurance policies, modifying coordinates without legal basis, conducting an insufficient number of inspections, and lacking qualified personnel specialized in various review components.
The initial report was released by MAE’s Subsecretariat for Environmental Quality on November 8, 2025; responses from the Prefecture were submitted on November 19. After analyzing supporting documents, only substantiated findings were closed while most major non-conformities remained due to insufficient evidence.
A definitive report was issued on January 16, 2026, identifying 43 major and two minor non-conformities. It required the Prefecture to submit a corrective action plan within eight days—a plan delivered on January 29 and currently under review.
“The audit responds to regular oversight over accredited environmental authorities and ensures decentralized competence is exercised under uniform technical and legal standards,” said Minister Manzano. She added that similar audits are ongoing in other provinces as part of a national strategy aimed at protecting the environment through supervision rather than sanctions; this approach seeks robust evaluation processes that benefit citizens with reliable and timely assessments.
