Climate change: Senegal prepares its new roadmap for 2035

Around thirty agents from several ministries, local authorities and civil society organizations have been meeting in Thiès since Monday for a three-day training course on integrating gender and nutrition into Senegal's next Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0).

This session comes as Senegal continues the process of finalizing its new climate contribution. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the commitments made by states under the Paris Agreement to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen their capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change.

The NDC 3.0 must notably define the climate actions that Senegal intends to implement until 2035. It comes after the NDC 2.0 submitted by the country in 2020, in accordance with the principle of five-yearly review provided for by the Paris Agreement.

The process is led by the Directorate for Climate Change, Ecological Transition and Green Finance (DCCTEFV). Several gender and climate change focal points are involved in the work, including those from the ministries in charge of the Environment, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Water Resources, Health and Social Action, Women and Family, Child Protection and Employment.

Representatives from local authorities involved in the local implementation of NDC 3.0, as well as civil society organizations and women's organizations active in the fields of climate, agriculture and nutrition, are also participating in the training.

The vulnerability of women at the heart of the discussions

This meeting aims to strengthen the capacities of stakeholders so that gender and nutrition issues are better integrated into national climate policies.

According to Dibor Sarr Faye, representative of the Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition, States parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are called upon every five years to submit their nationally determined contribution.

She notes that Senegal, after submitting its NDC 2.0 in 2020, has committed to finalizing its NDC 3.0.

Particular attention is paid to the issue of gender. Senegal considers this dimension to be a fundamental element in the fight against climate change, due to the differentiated vulnerability of men and women to climate impacts.

The objective is therefore to identify these vulnerabilities and take them into account in the various adaptation options chosen by the country. Through this approach, stakeholders hope to make NDC 3.0 a more inclusive climate framework, taking into account the social, economic, and nutritional realities of the populations most exposed to the effects of climate change.