The Gambia
Core analysis conducted and presented by Haddijatou Ceesay and Joe Bongay of the Gambia in August, 2021.
Executive Summary
Gambia’s INDC highlighted four emissions sectors that would be the centre of focus in reducing emissions. However, it failed to provide clear guidelines and strategies for implementation. The Sectors includes: Reductions in the Agricultural Sector, Reductions in the Energy Sector, Emission reductions under Transport Systems and Emission reductions under Waste Management.
Recognizing the important contributions of women and youth as decision makers, stakeholders, educators, carers and experts across sectors and at all levels to have a tremendous impact on matters affecting climate change.
Commits to additional climate policy issues, prioritizing gender justice and equity to reduce inequalities and prioritizing a just transition to human rights and reducing harm to marginalized communities.
Recommendations on NDC Enhancement and implementation:
Recommendation for the Gambian Government on NDC enhancement and implementation Is to encourage the participation of women’s groups in sustainable resource consumption as necessary for a sound environmental framework in The Gambia.And to adopt specific enabling condition that will be achieved through intensive and extensive education, raising awareness to take climate action in to consideration. Also To empower young people especially girls in climate activities and feminism by being advocates and sensitize people.
The combination of climate change, biodiversity loss, youth unemployment, gender inequality, food insecurity, and high level of poverty in The Gambia, remains major threats to the nation’s advances towards achieving the goals of sustainable development. These threats are further amplified by the vast rate of forest loss, faster than the rate of regeneration, unsustainable farming practices, limited awareness, non-availability of seeds and seedlings for tree planting activities, limited youth engagement, and over-dependence on forests and forests resources for subsistence, especially in rural communities which women are mostly affected, thus leading to the destruction of the bio-physical structure of land, and our increased susceptibility to the climate and ecological crisis. These unwelcome realities suggest the need for a holistic approach that provides ‘multiple wins’, delivering local development in the form of direct and indirect livelihood benefits to rural families and smallholders, in a way that is compatible with nature conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Recommendations on Advocacy and Accountability:
Young feminist and Civil society organizations play an important role in keeping track of activities related to tackling climate change impacts.
Advocates should continue campaigns on effects of climate change where devastating impacts affect the enjoyment of human rights. Young people should continue to take lead and involve in small climate action projects, encouraging volunteering, joining community groups and promoting climate sensitization in schools.
Young feminists can bring together systematic analysis that foreground justice, intersectionality, coalition-building and solidarity to address the issues of climate change, justice and equity.
Civil society should encourage children on various exercises, trainings and participate in tree planting activities at schools, beaches and communal lands to increase forest coverage.
NDC Analysis
Introduction
The Gambia, situated in West Africa, is located squarely in the river Gambia Delta, which effectively separates the country into two halves from north to south. It is surrounded on all three sides by Senegal and boarded to the west by the North Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a total land area of 11,300 square kilometres: 1,300 sq/km covered with water and 10,000 sq.km being the total land mass.
Due to this, vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning (V&A) has gained great attention which necessitates the need for knowledge, skills and tools for research. The Gambia has been active in the area of climate change for a long time and has a strong track record of supporting ambition at the national and international level. The Gambia is a Least Developed Country, whose emissions in 2000 only amounted to 0.05% of total global emissions. Despite this, the country has been highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (climate.org).
The Gambia and with emphasis on the feed and livestock resources, the present research hypothesizes that remarkable disparities exist between men and women livestock farmers in terms of their climate change adaptation strategies for food production and management.
The Gambia is rare among the world’s developing countries in proposing an ambitious conditional emissions reduction target that would bend its emissions downwards. Deployment of renewables is taking off with a couple of large-scale solar PV projects planned in the near future.
2. Emissions
The Gambia’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) aims to unconditionally reduce emissions by 2.4% by 2025 below business-as-usual (BAU) and conditional on international financial support aims for a target of a 55% reduction by 2025. Gambia’s INDC highlighted four high-emissions sectors that would be the centre of focus in reducing emissions they are:
Reductions in the Agricultural Sector
Reductions in the Energy Sectors
Emissions reductions under Transport Systems
Emissions reductions under Waste Management.
However, it failed to provide clear guidelines and strategies for implementation. Plans of action for reducing her emissions includes:
To achieve its emissions reduction targets is the uptake of renewable energy technologies.
The Gambia has set targets to start oil extraction in the country by 2019 and to stop importing oil by 2025.
The INDC also includes reduction in the forestry, Land use and agricultural sectors, also have plans to realise these reductions through afforestation (CAT). Estimating greenhouse gas emissions, removals and contribution. However Inadequate solid waste and waste water data that is lack of required information is a major issue regarding both GHG emissions and waste production for both solid waste and waste water. Thus most of the strategies and policy are not been implemented and being on negligence across sectors. Emissions targets presented do not align with intersectional environmental concerns. Women and youths are not mentioned in it’s overarching plan.
But Youth education represents one of the most effective tools to combat the destructive potential of climate change and cultivate an international understanding among members of the next generation since it is a long-term process that will impact an infinite number of future generations.
Youths have the potential to disrupt dominant policy discourse and ground technical debates in practical realities.
Recognising the important contributions of women as decision makers, stakeholders, educators, carers and experts across sectors and at all levels can lead to successful, long-term solutions to climate change.
Women have proven to be leading the way towards more equitable and sustainable solutions to climate change.
Women have the knowledge and understanding of what is needed to adapt to changing environmental conditions and to come up with practical solutions.
indigenous women have experienced the impacts of climate change for generations and have been forerunners and leaders in environmental conservation.
women are usually first responders in community responses to natural disasters, leaders in disaster risk-reduction, and contribute to post recovery by addressing the early recovery needs of their families and strengthening community building.
Youths are adaptable and can quickly make low-carbon lifestyles and career choices a part of their daily lives.
Young people are the key actors in raising awareness, running educational programmes, promoting sustainable lifestyles, conserving nature, supporting renewable energy, adopting environmentally-friendly practices and implementing adaptation and mitigation projects[UNFCCC].
3. Gender
Across the INDC, no specific mention of women and girls being vulnerable to climate change were made. Gender inequalities contribute to vulnerability, malnutrition and reduce the adaptive capacity of women and girls. Women and girls are commonly faced with higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change.
Gender justice and equity should be a priority in this analysis as there should be fairness of treatment for women and men according to their respective needs, women’s unequal participation in decision making process and labour markets compound inequalities and often prevent them from fully contributing to climate related planning, policy making and implementation.
women have proven to be leading the way towards more equitable and sustainable solutions to climate. They can play a critical role in response to climate change due to their local knowledge of leadership, eg.sustainable resource management or leading sustainable practices at the household and community level(UNFCCC). Gender is not just a binary concept men and women but a whole range of factors such as age, marital status, affluence or poverty, etc. Both women and men are free to develop their personal abilities and to make choices without the limitations imposed by stereotypes, right gender roles and prejudices.
The major aim of intersectionality is to avoid the kind of simplification that would declare position and knowledge generated by these women as a universal aspect of being female. Many people with disabilities experience high rates of social risk factors that contribute to poor health such as poverty, unemployment and lower education. Climate change interacts with worsens existing inequalities in The Gambia that are often shaped by racism. Denied from the mainstream social economy, educational or cultural life should be no discrimination in both rural and urban people of The Gambia.
4. Youth
The needs of young or future generation was not mentioned in the INDC as a major concern, it was only mentioned on disaster preparation by empowering young people as advocates for disaster risk reduction. Intergenerational equity and justice for young and future generation can be prioritized by implementing mitigation and adaption actions for climate change and growing trend of climate action to provide an opportunity to integrate issues of intergeneration equity especially for youth and provide national youths policies.
The Gambia government should encourage youth participation in decision making processes which may have a tremendous impact on matters affecting climate change. Due to their immature physiological defense systems and the ways they interact with their immediate environment, they are physically more vulnerable to the direct effects of the extreme heat, drought and natural disasters (Mcmichael), affects young children’s health and climate mediated illnesses especially in children aged five years below and also affects the poorest children, deepening existing inequalities especially in marginalized communities who are more vulnerable to climate disasters. Those with adequate resources safely relocate, keep families safe together and access to health care easily than the poor this injustice in the society should be discouraged.
The Gambia government should support children and young people in sharing their concerns and confronting the reality of climate change and included in adaptation policies since they are the future leaders therefore deserves visibility and promotion.
Recognizing them as stakeholders, with greater visibility of their rights and needs, training them to become peer educators in schools and communities on issues related to climate change and becoming advocates and leading behavioral change.
Early efforts to help thrive and be well prepared for responding adaptively to the changes ahead through self regulation, positive and supportive relationships with the parents, peer and teachers, school connectedness and being a contributing member of the community.
Also by involving in small climate action projects, encouraging volunteering and joining community groups and promoting climate sensitization in schools.
5. Additional Climate policy issues
The Gambia signed the UNFCCC in 1992 and ratified it in 1994. Based on national circumstances. The Gambia is implementing the climate change convention and it’s Kyoto protocol by taken important steps to face the challenges and address the effects of climate change through development etc. Gambia includes unconditional mitigation options in its INDC, the mitigation actions are viewed under different sectorial levels for emission reductions. She does not see the INDC as the vehicle to address its adaptation needs, she expects the Paris Agreement will make adequate provision to enable international climate finance support for effective adaptation in the most vulnerable countries.
For Gambia to transition to a low emissions and climate resilient development pathway, Government intends to adopt specific enabling conditions which must consist of national regulation policies, subsidies and incentives as well as international market and legal infrastructure. Also intends to adopt specific enabling condition that will be achieved through intensive and extensive education, awareness raising and development and implementation of socio-economic research and sectorial policies to take climate change into consideration.
Issues of finance and technology; financial and technical support from Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), climate change issues and risks have successfully been integrated in the programme for accelerated growth and employment as a cross cutting theme. Due to inadequate financial resources, The Gambia government intends to use international financial sources to access climate change in general (INDC). Also continue to assess and determine her technological requirements to implement the convention and any future climate regime to be agreed in Paris.
Loss and damages; Inadequate funding to enable the utilization of disaster preparedness and risk reduction in support of climate change adaptation and future loss and damage. Proposed activities include:
Strengthen disaster risk reduction at the local level.
Integrate disaster risk reduction with climate change adaptation
Empower young people as advocates for disaster risk reduction.
Under mitigation; Climate change mitigation policies could discourage unsustainable use of fossil fuels while promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency in electricity generation, transmission and use. The success of energy policies depend on institutional capacity building, the removal of financial barriers, and the development of strong legal framework with sufficient regulatory stability. Gambia needs more female activist and female youths in policy implementation.
6. Climate Justice and Equity
The Gambia’s INDC does not align with intersectional environmental justice and equity needs. The government enacted the national policy for the advancement of women in 1999. The policy provides a legitimate point of reference for addressing gender inequalities, a gender policy 2010-2020 was designed. The policy aims to guide and direct all levels of planning and implementation of development programmes, with a gender perspective. However marginalized communities
, human rights and gender equity for young and future generations should be prioritize and included in the INDC.
Human rights is linked to environmental issues, climate change caused by human activity has negative impacts on the full enjoyment of human rights, including rights to life, self determination, development, food, health, water and sanitation and housing. A lack of legal regulation and enforcement of industrial, larger scale dams, deforestation, domestic water and sanitation systems and heavily polluting industries lead to host of human rights violation.
Marginalized communities denied from the mainstream social, economic, educational and cultural life, there should be no discrimination in both rural and urban areas in The Gambia everyone should have equal rights. Inequality creates a larger likelihood of exposure for disadvantaged groups to climate disasters and climate hazards. Lower income individuals normally live in the most vulnerable locations with less developed infrastructures, also experiences climate disasters and damages.
7. Recommendation
Encouraging and identify the participation of women’s groups in sustainable resource consumption as necessary for a sound environmental framework in The Gambia.
Encourage youths especially girls in climate activities and feminism, being an advocate and sensitize people on the effects of climate change and how to take measures.
Young climate feminists can bring together systematic analysis that foreground justice, intersectionality, coalition-building and solidarity to address the issues of climate change and climate justice and equity.
Encouraging youths by taking part in small climate action projects and creating awareness to the general public on climate change through different social media platforms.
Public awareness and public participation and through education. And encouraging children and tree planting activities at schools, beaches and communal lands to increase forest coverage.
To amplify the voices of many vulnerable and gender oppressed groups, who are the most severely affected by climate crisis through compensation from the government or NGO’s that are willing to help the oppressed groups.
Also to provide available data from different sectors.
8. References
https://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/wp-content/uploads/laws/8109.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644016.2013.835203
McMichael, A. J., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Kovats, S., Edwards, S., Wilkinson, P., Wilson, T., … Andronova, N. (2004).
Authors
Core analysis conducted and presented by Haddijatou Ceesay and Joe Bongay of the Gambia in August, 2021.