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 Program (UNDP) organized a post-COP 27 briefing workshop on Thursday, 22nd December 2022, at Kombo Beach Hotel.
The event was chaired by Mr. Alieu Njie, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources.
The workshop aims to bring together stakeholders to see how best Gambia can move forward in achieving its climate change goals following the outcome of COP2.
In her opening remark, Hon. Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rohey John Manjang 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 benefit that came to The Gambia includes 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 programs of national significance to cope with the menace of climate change,’’ she said.
She added: ‘’these developments come as a result of our active and persistent engagements in the United 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, stating that ‘’I want to recognize the gallant performance of our negotiation team, it was a marathon.’’
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 recognized 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 said 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. She stated that the loss and damage fund is of extreme relevance to the country.
Ms. Mengeh Jaiteh, a COP27 attendee highlighted 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 level.
In his closing remark, the adviser to the minister, Mr. Momodou Wuri Jallow thanked MECCNAR and UNDP for their foresight in organizing post-COP workshop whiles calling on the participants to start preparing and lobbying for funds for the next COP which will be held in the United Arab Emirates.
