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Towards A Low-Carbon Climate-Resilient Future: Developing The Gambia's 2050 Climate Vision
Towards A Low-Carbon Climate-Resilient Future: Developing The Gambia's 2050 Climate Vision
a low-carbon
climate-resilient
future
Developing The Gambia’s
2050 Climate Vision
Case study
June 2021
About the authors
Isatou F Camara is deputy director of The Gambia’s Directorate of Development Planning, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. Alpha
AK Jallow is Climate Change Secretariat director, and Bubacar Z Jallow is Project Coordination Unit director, both in The Gambia’s Ministry of
Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources. Gabrielle SA Swaby is a researcher in IIED's Climate Change Group.
Corresponding authors: Alpha AK Jallow, info@meccnar.gov.gm and Gabrielle SA Swaby, gabrielle.swaby@iied.org
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Hannah Caddick (independent editor) for her invaluable contributions to the development of this publication.
Cover image: community garden and farmer field school in Njoben, The Gambia. The solar panels are used to power the borehole that fills the water tank
Contents
04. Developing The Gambia’s 2050 Climate Vision: challenges, opportunities and lessons 8
Designing an inclusive process 8
Securing resources and buy-in through high-level political commitment 9
Aligning timelines and mandates 9
Notes 12
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01
TOWARDS A LOW-CARBON CLIMATE-RESILIENT FUTURE: DEVELOPING THE GAMBIA’S 2050 CLIMATE VISION
Introduction
Even if the world stopped emitting greenhouse gases from this moment onwards, the impacts of climate
change would continue to increase in intensity, frequency and duration for decades to come.1 Addressing
our changing climate is both a sprint and a marathon — it demands a two-pronged approach of urgent
short-term action combined with innovative planning for future risks. The Gambia is one country that’s
leading the way by building a strong policy landscape to achieve an ambitious climate vision for 2050.
The Gambia’s 2050 Climate Vision affirms This case study explores the process “We are committed to pursuing a
the country’s commitment to low-carbon, undertaken by The Gambia to develop its 2050
climate-resilient development (see Box 1) Climate Vision, published in 2021,2 and the
low-carbon and climate-resilient
and provides a blueprint for action, guided country’s preparations to respond to the Paris development pathway … and will
by four cross-cutting strategic priorities. Agreement’s invitation to elaborate a “long-term endeavour to put in place the
By prioritising climate-related development low greenhouse gas development strategy”3
necessary policies and institutions.
actions, The Gambia’s 2050 Climate Vision that defines how it will achieve this vision.
will also help the government to make the We will spare no efforts to position
In looking at the challenges and opportunities
right investment decisions for years to come,
that The Gambia has encountered, and how our country to tap the enormous
ensuring that hard-earned development gains
opportunities that a low-carbon
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Our mission
We will endeavour to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with enhanced adaptive capacities and resilience, and play our part to address
climate change through vigorous public agency, backed by the full engagement of our citizens from all walks of life.
We recognise that while The Gambia’s contribution to climate change has always been marginal, our country faces extraordinary challenges
due to the impacts of climate change. We are therefore committed to act with the necessary sense of urgency.
We commit to transforming The Gambia into a country with an environmentally conscious and educated population for the sustainable
development and management of our natural resources, cities and habitats. This includes transport and other infrastructure, tourism, sustainable
agriculture and forestation, all of which leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, less pollution and clean air and water, all contributing
towards high standards of living.
We are committed to working with all parties in the spirit of multilateralism and international solidarity. We regard climate change as an
existential global threat against which all of humanity must play their part.
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• Climate-resilient people: health, education, equitable social development and human settlements
• Managing our coasts in a changing environment: climate-aware Integrated Coastal Zone Management.
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TOWARDS A LOW-CARBON CLIMATE-RESILIENT FUTURE: DEVELOPING THE GAMBIA’S 2050 CLIMATE VISION
The Gambia is situated within the Sudan- prone to flooding, including Banjul, its capital productive base — including agriculture (mostly
Sahel zone. Its climate is characterised by city, which is located on the coast and has an rain-fed), tourism, fisheries and livestock — are
a long dry season (November to May), with elevation of between 0.5m and 2.0m.4,5 This is a vulnerable to extreme climate events, such as
temperatures between 18°C and 30°C, and a major concern given that Banjul is a significant droughts and prolonged dry spells, windstorms,
short wet season, with temperatures between economic hub for the country and that sea flooding (riverine and flash floods), intense heat
23°C and 33°C.4 Rainfall in July, August levels are projected to rise between 0.19m and and coastal erosion.
and September accounts for 80–85% of 0.43m by 2050.5
Although The Gambia’s greenhouse gas
annual precipitation.5 Since 1960, minimum
The impact of such climate variability and The emissions have been increasing steadily
temperatures across The Gambia have risen
Gambia’s exposure to sea level rise includes land (see Figure 2), it contributes just 0.016% of
and rainfall has decreased, with significant
degradation, reduced crop yields, salt intrusion, global emissions. Given the country’s climate
inter-annual and regional variability.4
human and livestock migration to neighbouring variability but low overall emissions contribution,
The Gambia is low-lying: its highest point, in countries and increased poverty, all of which The Gambia’s long-term response to climate
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the southeast, is 53 metres above sea level. hinder progress on socioeconomic development. change must focus on adaptation and
Between 10% and 20% of the country is Indeed, most of the country’s economic resilience, as well as low-emissions growth.
4
Figure 1. Administrative map of The Gambia and its location on the West Coast of Africa
Rainfall 0t
Vulnerability -0.25 t
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High risk of river flooding
High risk of coastal flooding, erosion and salt intrusion 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016
High risk of water scarcity Source: CAIT Climate Data Explorer via. Climate Watch. Redrawn from: Ritchie, H and Roser, M (2020) CO2 and
High risk of windstorms Greenhouse Gas Emissions. https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions, CC BY 4.0
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03
TOWARDS A LOW-CARBON CLIMATE-RESILIENT FUTURE: DEVELOPING THE GAMBIA’S 2050 CLIMATE VISION
An early and ambitious adopter of a business-as-usual scenario).7 The Climate economy actions. This is in line with the 2050
climate goals Action Tracker has rated the country’s Climate Vision and the already ambitious
The Gambia has been a party to the United unconditional NDC targets as being among mitigation targets set by the Master Plan for
Nations Framework Convention on Climate the most ambitious and affirmed that they are Renewable Energy.
Change (UNFCCC) since 1994. In 2015, compatible with the Paris Agreement target of
keeping global warming below 1.5°C by 2050.8 Aligning national targets with
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as a LIFE-AR front runner, The Gambia will
National Environment Management Act (1994)
further step up its efforts to build resilience and 2050 Climate Vision (2021) and long-term,
adaptive capacity and address poverty so as to Cross-cutting low-carbon climate-resilient development Gambia Environmental Action Plan III
serve as an example to other countries and will strategy (forthcoming) Biodiversity Act (2003)
help support the initiative with fundraising. Gender Action Plan (2013-2015) 7
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TOWARDS A LOW-CARBON CLIMATE-RESILIENT FUTURE: DEVELOPING THE GAMBIA’S 2050 CLIMATE VISION
— both to generate contributions to the vision its development partners, bringing them in to and community groups as well as businesses
itself and to address differences that emerged various stages of the visioning process. This and the private sector. This is in part due to
between stakeholders. not only added value to the end product but ease of access and resource constraints. The
Between January 2020 and February 2021, also helped to ensure that government and core team plans to convene these groups more
8
more than 100 stakeholders took part in development partner climate interventions are in actively during the long-term strategy (LTS)
visioning workshops, several small and virtual alignment for the foreseeable future. elaboration process.
Fishing in the sea, The Gambia
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ministries of energy and agriculture) provided necessary for fully integrating climate within The
feedback, helping to foster cross-government Gambia’s domestic strategies and policies in
support for the 2050 Climate Vision — and a way that better supports the needs, priorities
subsequent LTS — at the highest levels. and adaptive capacities of communities most 9
affected by climate change.
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TOWARDS A LOW-CARBON CLIMATE-RESILIENT FUTURE: DEVELOPING THE GAMBIA’S 2050 CLIMATE VISION
modelling)
horizontally across society.
• Developing an investment roadmap, and The successful implementation of the LTS
will demand strong leadership and political
• Examining other institutional arrangements,
commitment at the highest level as well as
10 such as review mechanisms.
involvement from stakeholders across society.
Agricultural land that is part of a project to restore and rehabilitate land to build climate resilience
Boosting climate finance at the
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Vision — and forthcoming LTS — will be important
tools to help guide the socioeconomic changes
needed to achieve this and, in turn, The Gambia's
national development goals. 11
Notes
TOWARDS A LOW-CARBON CLIMATE-RESILIENT FUTURE: DEVELOPING THE GAMBIA’S 2050 CLIMATE VISION
1 UK Committee on Climate Change (2020) 7 This emissions reduction includes The sites/default/files/2021-04/SPCR%20
The Sixth Caron Budget: The UK’s path to Gambia’s conditional and unconditional Report%20Vol%20I%20Final.pdf
Net Zero. www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/ targets. According to the Climate Action 11 Wangdi, SP (2019) Countries sign
uploads/2020/12/The-Sixth-Carbon- Tracker, the total expected mitigation from
support of Least Developed Countries’
Budget-The-UKs-path-to-Net-Zero.pdf The Gambia’s conditional and unconditional
Initiative for Effective Adaptation and
NDC targets would result in an emissions
2 MECCNAR (2021) The Gambia 2050 Resilience. Press release, 11 December
reduction equivalent to 55% below the
Climate Vision. Government of The Gambia, 2019. LDC Group on Climate Change.
business-as-usual scenario. An update to
Banjul. www.meccnar.gov.gm/long-term- www.ldc-climate.org/press_release/
these NDC targets is forthcoming in 2021.
climate-change-vision-strategy countries-sign-support-of-least-
Government of The Gambia (2015) The
developed-countries-initiative-for-effective-
3 UNFCCC (2015) Paris Agreement, Article Gambia: Intended Nationally Determined
adaptation-and-resilience
4.19 and Decision 1/CP.21, paragraph 35. Contribution. www4.unfccc.int/sites/
https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/ NDCStaging/Pages/All.aspx
cop21/eng/10a01.pdf 8 Climate Action Tracker, The Gambia.
World Bank, The Gambia. Climate https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/
Image credits
4
greenhouse gas emissions. 10 AGRER (2017) The Gambia Strategic Framework via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other- Programme for Climate Resilience Volume
greenhouse-gas-emissions 1: Main Report. www.meccnar.gov.gm/
12
Farmer on his cashew farm, The Gambia
In this case study, we explore lessons from the process undertaken by The Gambia
to develop its 2050 Climate Vision, which may aid other countries on their journey.
We look at how the country is preparing to elaborate a 'long-term low greenhouse
gas development strategy' in response to the Paris Agreement’s invitation.
IIED is an international policy and action research organisation, working across the globe with
local, national and international partners. We find innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing Funded by:
sustainable development challenges — solutions that improve livelihoods and protect the
environments on which they depend. We specialise in linking local priorities to global challenges,
working with marginalised people to ensure their voices are heard in the decision-making arenas
that affect them — from village councils to international conventions.