The Senegalese government on Friday officially launched an ambitious climate adaptation initiative titled “Aligning National and Subnational Adaptation Planning in Senegal (NAP-GCF).”
Spearheaded by the Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition, the project is backed by $2.6 million (approximately CFAF 1.5 billion) in funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The primary objective is to fully integrate climate adaptation into development policies at every level — national, sectoral, and local — to strengthen the resilience of communities and ecosystems against the mounting impacts of climate change.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Minister of Environment and Ecological Transition, Professor Daouda Ngom, emphasised the strategic significance of the initiative.
“This project represents a major step forward in our commitment to making climate adaptation a central pillar of our development agenda. It aims to remove barriers to effective planning and channel resources toward concrete, relevant, and sustainable actions,” he stated.
The initiative will support the finalization of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) for ten key sectors and the development of a national roadmap to guide future investments, projects, and reforms related to climate resilience.
The minister also underscored the need for more decentralized and inclusive climate governance.
“Local governments must play a leading role in implementing adaptation measures. We need to build local capacities and ensure that community priorities are fully reflected in national strategies,” he added.
Planned, Inclusive, and Participatory Adaptation
UNDP Resident Representative in Senegal, Catherine Phuong, welcomed the government’s commitment to building a coherent and inclusive framework for climate resilience.
“In the face of accelerating climate change, adaptation can no longer be improvised. It must be rigorously designed, structured, and planned. Above all, it must involve all stakeholders — government, local authorities, the private sector, civil society, and academia,” she said.
Phuong also pointed to ongoing structural challenges, including institutional coordination, disaggregated climate data collection, and access to international financing. She recalled that Senegal’s adaptation needs are projected to run into several billion dollars by 2030, underlining the importance of transformative initiatives like this one.
The launch event brought together representatives from parliament, various line ministries, local authorities, and civil society organisations.
TE/sf/lb/as/APA