Think tank sur les politiques publiques dans le secteur agricole et rural en Afrique de l’Ouest

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Is Senegal on the right track to achieve its NDC commitments ?

Publié le 3 janvier 2023

This paper assesses the extent to which Senegal’s macroeconomic policy actions both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic have been in line with its commitments to its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets. For the past decade the country has developed various policies to address the effects of climate change. Access to finance has played an instrumental role in developing bankable projects, mainly through international funding support. However, the available funds are insufficient, given the needs of the country and the complexity of funding mechanisms. To date, the implementation of Senegal’s NDC has been largely unsatisfactory.

In fact, while the government has reached major goals such as increasing the share of renewable energy in the national energy mix, some economic priorities may counter its carbon-reduction objectives. Oil and gas discoveries threaten to derail previous commitments to a low-carbon economy, as these discoveries overtake government actions to promote renewable energy options. Nevertheless, there is still hope for more climate-friendly commitments and actions through the Green Emerging Senegal Plan (Plan Sénégal Emergent Vert [PSE vert]) currently being formulated. This plan should develop a pathway towards a low-carbon and climateresilient economy based on meeting the country’s NDC and other climate targets. However, there are also major bottlenecks hindering effective implementation of the NDC commitments.

In addition to a shortfall in climate-focused funds, sectoral policies do not fully incorporate the country’s NDC, thus impeding the government’s ability to accurately measure progress made.
A comprehensive national measurement reporting and verification and supportive monitoring and evaluation system could increase transparency and strengthen efforts made in terms of climate adaptation and mitigation.

About CoMPRA
The COVID-19 Macroeconomic Policy Response in Africa (CoMPRA) project was
developed following a call for rapid response policy research into the COVID-19
pandemic by the IDRC. The project’s overall goal is to inform macroeconomic
policy development in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by low and middleincome
countries (LMICs) and development partners that results in more
inclusive, climate-resilient, effective and gender-responsive measures through
evidence-based research. This will help to mitigate COVID-19’s social and
economic impact, promote recovery from the pandemic in the short term
and position LMICs in the longer term for a more climate-resilient, sustainable
and stable future. The CoMPRA project will focus broadly on African countries
and specifically on six countries (Benin, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria
and South Africa). SAIIA and CSEA, as the lead implementing partners for this
project, also work with think tank partners in these countries.