“Gór cá wax ja”: at COP31, time for action

Upon my arrival in Senegal, among the first people I met were my neighbors: the fishing communities settled along the Eastern Corniche.

I spent half a day with them, listening to their stories. They told me how difficult it had become to make a living from their work. One of the fishermen explained that, when he was young, a few hours at sea were enough to fill his pirogue with fish: enough to feed his family and sell the surplus. Today, he sometimes has to spend several days at sea to return with just enough fish to feed his family.

His testimony deeply affected me. It made me realize, in a very concrete way, the difficulties faced by coastal communities in Senegal: the depletion of fish stocks, the evolution of marine ecosystems, coastal erosion and the growing uncertainty that weighs on activities on which families have depended for generations.

I had already witnessed another facet of this same reality during my previous roles in the Sahel. In Niger, Andrew Mitchell, then the British Minister for Development, used a striking comparison: every day, the country was losing the equivalent of nearly 500 football fields of arable land. The pressures exerted on land, as on marine resources, are not merely environmental issues. They affect food security, employment, family incomes, and the future of entire communities.

The manifestations of climate change may differ between the Sahel and the Senegalese coast. But their human and economic consequences are increasingly visible – and they demand our action. As the British economist Nicholas Stern pointed out, climate change constitutes “the greatest market failure ever observed.” The recent floods in Dakar are a concrete illustration of this.

The figures speak for themselves: if nothing is done, climate change could cost Senegal nearly 10% of its GDP by 2050 and push more than two million people into poverty, in a context already marked by multiple crises. But while climate change presents numerous risks, it also represents a tremendous opportunity for growth.

For example, according to the International Labour Office, a greener economy could create up to 350,000 additional jobs in Senegal by 2035. For a country where youth employment is one of the main challenges, this is an unprecedented opportunity.

It is in this spirit that the climate partnership between the United Kingdom and Senegal has evolved in recent years. Initially focused on climate diplomacy, it has gradually expanded to include the mobilization of green investments and the strengthening of economic resilience to climate shocks.

At COP31, the UK's position will illustrate a Wolof leitmotif that I really like:

“Gór cá wax ja!” : Success will not only be measured by the new objectives negotiated, but by our ability to demonstrate the implementation of commitments already made during previous COPs.

The first shared priority between our two countries at COP31 will be electrification, with a simple position: accelerating electrification and the transition to clean energy is not only a climate necessity but also an economic imperative and a matter of energy security. The Bokhol solar power plant, which I had the honor of co-inaugurating, and which will benefit nearly 160,000 people in northern Senegal, is a prime example.

The United Kingdom is pleased to have already mobilized private financing to support two ambitious goals for Senegal: the energy transition and access to energy, particularly in rural areas. Through the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), 30 billion CFA francs have already been mobilized for Senegal, and projects have been guaranteed up to 29 billion CFA francs. The UK is also addressing one of the main bottlenecks to investment—the lack of bankable green projects—by supporting their structuring and connecting them with international investors.

It is this new “donor to investor” paradigm, shared by the United Kingdom, Senegal and African countries, that we want to promote at COP31.

Recognizing that climate finance mobilization remains insufficient, we believe that COP31 must be an opportunity to demonstrate the effective implementation of financial commitments made at previous COPs. This is our second priority for this COP. The United Kingdom, for its part, has already exceeded its commitment of 9 trillion CFA francs in climate finance and continues to support multilateral funds (nearly 650 billion CFA francs to the Green Climate Fund between 2021 and 2026, and 260 billion CFA francs to the Global Environment Facility) in order to strengthen access to climate finance for the most vulnerable countries.

Our third priority at COP31 stems from the recognition that climate hazards are inevitable, but whether or not they escalate into a crisis depends on prior choices and investments. The United Kingdom is contributing to strengthening Senegal's resilience by supporting more inclusive early warning systems, more climate-resilient infrastructure, and pre-arranged financing mechanisms, including the African Risk Capacity.

“Adaptation is not a cost, it is an investment,” said Ban Ki-moon. True to this conviction, the United Kingdom has demonstrated this by tripling its adaptation funding, bringing it to over 1,180 billion CFA francs, compared to approximately 394 billion previously. At COP31, we will therefore advocate for the effective implementation of financial commitments for adaptation, a better balance between funding for adaptation and climate mitigation, and greater private sector involvement in these issues. Similarly, the financing of the Loss and Damage Response Fund must be brought back to the forefront of discussions, focusing on innovative private financing.

In light of recent crises, the link between climate, nature, and economic prosperity has never been clearer. The success of COP31 will be measured by our ability to translate climate commitments into concrete investments and to pave the way for a historic COP32 in Africa, coinciding with the UK's G20 presidency in 2027. A golden opportunity for Senegalese-British cooperation focused on green growth: " xaccàndo, dorando!"