By Fatou Sanneh
Following the recent Climate Change Conference COP 27 held in Egypt from 6th to 18th November 2022, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources (MECCNAR) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday, December 22nd organised a post-COP 27 briefing workshop at Kombo Beach Hotel.
The workshop aimed to bring together stakeholders to see how best Gambia can move forward in achieving its climate change goals following the outcome of COP27.
In her opening remarks, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, Mrs Rohey John Majang stated that The Gambia as a party to the convention and being a member of the LDC and AGN has been participating in negotiations that have led to very important decisions that have an impact on the country; such as Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, the Mobilization of Climate Finance, Loss and Damage. Among the benefits that came to The Gambia are several projects on adaptation, mitigation and resilience building, and policy formation support.
“The country has gone very far in participating in national, regional and global climate negotiation as well as the implementation of activities, projects and programmes of national significance to cope with the menace of climate change,’’ she said.
“These developments,” she added, “come as a result of our active and persistent engagements in the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change program including our participation in the annual Conference of Parties Meetings.’’
Hon. John Manjang commended the Gambian team led by the Vice President, His Excellency Hon. Alieu Badara Joof, and the negotiation team for the gallant performance’’.
In her statement, the UNDP Representative, Ms. Fatoumatta Sanyang stated that out of many countries that have signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, pledging to “pursue efforts” to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C., Gambia is recognised in the past as a global leader due to its ambitious targets in the area of climate change. However, she added that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to achieve the targets set out in the national climate change contribution.
One of the key outcomes of COP27 is loss and damage funding which Ms. Sanyang, that the fund is of extreme relevance to the country, looking at the severe weather conditions and how they are impacting countries at the moment, referencing the recent flash floods and extreme windstorms The Gambia has suffered from.
Ms. Mengeh Jaiteh, a COP27 attendee opined that in order to address the generational gap between the seasoned negotiator and the young negotiators, there is a need for a workable strategy for the experienced and seasoned negotiators to train the upcoming negotiators to be familiar with the skills of negotiation at both international and local levels.
In his closing remark, the adviser to the minister, Mr. Momodou Wuri Jallow thanked MECCNAR and UNDP for their foresight in organising post-COP workshop while calling on the participants to start preparing and lobbying for funds for the next COP, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates.
