Senegal in the climate crisis
Salinization and loss of land and villages because of rising sea levels. Droughts and floods because rain falls differently, resulting in crop losses: Senegal is suffering massively from the climate crisis. However, the country has hardly contributed to this. In the face of the sovereign debt crisis, Senegal lacks the means to cope with the threats and to take measures to deal with the climate crisis and its consequences, not to mention investing in better energy supplies for the population.
Natural gas production or a just energy transition?
A good ten years ago, large deposits of natural gas were found off the coast of Senegal. Despite protests from fishing communities and climate activists, the reserves have been opened up – by international corporations, which also reap the lion's share of the profits. Fishermen are losing important fishing grounds and emissions continue to fuel the climate crisis. To support the energy transition in Senegal, the G7 announced in 2023 that they would conclude a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with Senegal. This partnership should enable Senegal to build a renewable energy infrastructure instead of investing in fossil fuel infrastructure. Three years later, this is barely noticeable – instead, Senegalese President Diomaye Faye is aggressively marketing his country’s untapped oil and gas reserves in hopes of improving the country’s energy supply.
Climate reparations as a possible answer
How can Senegal get out of this situation? How can a just energy transition be promoted in the country, which also helps the poorer sections of the population out of energy poverty? Overall, what needs to be done to overcome the international injustice in the distribution of costs and losses resulting from the climate crisis? What role can climate reparations play here?
Discuss
We would like to discuss these and other questions in a webinar with Dr. Mamadou Ndong Touré (Practical Action) and Kai Kuhnhenn (Konzeptwerk Neue Wirtschaft), moderated by Neelke Wagner (PowerShift). The webinar will take place with simultaneous translation German-French.
Registration for the webinar
Please register:
The webinar is organized by PowerShift and the Rosa-Luxemburg Stiftung Berlin and Dakar.
In cooperation with:
