Stakeholders In Gambia Meet to Develop National Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Stakeholders under the aegis of the Ministry of the Environment, Parks and Wildlife and its partners have gathered at the conference hall of the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) for a training workshop, designed to build the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The Inventory guidelines are expected to be used to ensure that The Gambia meets the demands of all the international conventions and treaties it has so far ratified on climate change and its related issues. The Environment, Parks and Wildlife minister, Fatou Ndey Gaye at the event, described the workshop as an important milestone in the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in The Gambia. The minister hastened to thank all the members of the National Climate Committee (NCC), the UNFCCC focal point and secretariat, as well as various national experts for their solid engagement in the development of the National Greenhouse Inventory Report (NIR) of the Third National Communications of The Gambia. She informed that The Gambia has prepared and submitted two Green House Gas (GHG) Inventories as a component of its Initial and Second National Communications. In line with the more recent developments of the UNFCCC, namely more regular reporting and emphasis on emissions/sinks and mitigation, she said it is felt that this process should now be institutionalised. The minister used the opportunity to reiterate that The Gambia has emitted about 20 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2000, representing only about 0.01% of global emissions. Minister Gaye however lamented that the 'temperature warming' in The Gambia is projected to increase by about 4OC, while rainfall is projected to decrease by about 54% in 2100. Food and nutrition security of The Gambia, she added, would be seriously threatened by climate change, as crop production is likely to reduce by about 30%. "Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the single most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, contributing 64% to radioactive forcing by Long-Lived Greenhouse Gases (LLGHGs). It is responsible for 84% of the increase in radioactive forcing over the past decade and 82% over the past five years. Atmospheric CO2 reached 141%of the pre-industrial level in 2012, primarily because of emission from combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation and other land use," she explained. The minister reminded participants that their task is to develop the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory in The Gambia, stressing that they have to ensure that specific tasks relating to the national GHG inventory are carried out in a timely manner and ensure efficient coordination of outputs of consultants and national institutions. "The activities undertaken by the national institutions will contribute to strengthening institutional arrangements for compiling, archiving, updating and managing GHG inventories," she maintained. The UNFCCC focal person in The Gambia, Pa Ousman Jarju, who is also the director of Water Resources, said the objective of the UNFCCC is to achieve the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. He stressed that in order to achieve this, all parties shall develop and periodically update national greenhouse gas inventories, formulate, implement, publish and regularly update programmes containing mitigation and adaptation measures, while communicating information to the conference of the parties that is related to the implementation of commitments.