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National Forum of Civil Society Organizations on Climate

Senegal; October 13, 2021 – On October 13, the National Forum of Civil Society Organizations on Climate took place with the presence of H.E Victoria Billing, Ambassador of Great Britain in Senegal; Ibrahima AIDARA, Open Society Initiaitve for West Africa Executive Director; Fadel Wade, Civil Society Representative; and GGGI Senegal Country Representative, Romain Brillie.

The Minister of Environment & Sustainable Development of Senegal delivered the opening remarks sharing, “Your role as civil society organizations is all the more important. According to the United Nations Framework convention, you have to be the main actors.”

The event is part of the Empowerment of Non-State Actors and Vulnerable Communities on Climate Action project funded by OSIWA with the objective to strengthen climate action and resiliency. Following a consultation process, the non-state actors of the project mentioned relevant key thematic areas through which the project offered a capacity building program.

Civil society organizations, trained on climate advocacy & diplomacy, read the Dakar official declaration from CSOs and asked for the following:

  • to consider the role of CSOs on climate action in favor of climate change adaptation and mitigation;
  • to mobilize 100 billions dollars annually necessary to cover the Paris Agreement implementation and ease the CSOs access to finance to support adaptation & mitigation measures for vulnerable communities; and
  • to accelerate technological transfer that will contribute to the energy transition and energy access for non-covered communities in the line with the nationally determined contribution.

This declaration has the potential to contribute to raising the voice of the community for stronger climate action, shared the GGGI Country Representative, during the official session. Acting as president of COP26 at Glasgow, H.E. Victoria Billing recognized the positive contribution of CSOs on climate resiliency across different initiatives in Senegal. “We are open to support the Senegalese Government on national climate policies and targets, as well as strengthening the climate resiliency of local communities,” shared H.E. Billing.