Intended Nationally Determined Contribution of the Gambia.

The Republic of The Gambia has the honour and pleasure to communicate its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) as part of the implementation of decisions 1/CP.19 and 1/CP.20 of the Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC. Capacity to conduct and submit an economy-wide emissions reduction targets for The Gambia is limited. Individual baselines for each sector were developed, using a range of GDP growth scenarios. The medium scenario assumes growth rates of 5.5% until 2016 and 4.5% from 2017. For population projections the UN population prospectus 2012 medium fertility scenario was used. Individual assumptions were made for the mitigation options/activities in different sectors Treatment of the Land Use Land Use-Change and Forestry (LULUCF) emissions category has not been considered in the INDC. Excluding LULUCF and for Low Emissions Scenario, overall emissions will be reduced by about 44.4% in 2025 and 45.4% in 2030 (pag. 1).
The Gambia signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 and ratified it in 1994. By so doing, The Gambia is implementing the Climate Change Convention and its Kyoto Protocol based on its national circumstances, particularly to support its development policies and programmes. Since its ratification of the Convention, The Gambia has taken very important steps to face the challenges and address the effects of climate change through the development, submission and implementation of her National Communications, the National Adaptation Program of Actions (NAPA), the National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA) and the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA). These documents have been developed to be in line with the national policies and programmes including VISION 2020, the PAGE and relevant sectorial policies (pag. 5).
Adapting the Agriculture System to Climate Change in The Gambia will strengthen diversified and sustainable livelihood strategies for reducing the impacts of climate variability and change in agriculture and livestock sectors of The Gambia. In additon to institutional strengthening, climate change adaptation priorities will be mainstreamed into national agriculture and livestock policies, plans and programmes; value addition of products will be promoted to complement and support crop diversification; vulnerability and risk assessment tools and agro-climatic monitoring and early warning for food security will be improved; climate information services to the agriculture sector and dissemination to wider rural communities will be promoted; livelihoods and sources of income for vulnerable communities in 5 Administrative Regions of the country will be diversified; sustainable crop intensification will be enabled by introducing innovative crop improvement and management practices; implementation of poultry, small-ruminantes and cattle production at the local level will be improved; and sustainable livelihoods and soil and water management interventions to improve vegetative cover and to sustain livelihoods of livestock dependent communities will be expanded and intensified (pag. 10).
The Government of The Gambia is committed to reducing poverty and improving the well-being of its population and this commitment is driven by the government‟s long-term strategy, Vision 2020. The goal of Vision 2020 is “to transform The Gambia into a financial centre, a tourist paradise, a trading export-oriented agricultural and manufacturing nation, thriving on free market policies and a vibrant private sector (pag. 20).
The planning, development and implementation of an effective disaster preparedness and response strategy in support of climate change adaptation and loss and damage is a critical activity to develop and implement. Critical gaps and constraints exist in terms of human capacity, low awareness of the economic benefits of disaster risk reduction, low resilience of infrastructure and facilities, inadequate slum upgrade, lack of appropriate building codes and land use planning, and inadequate funding to enable the utilization of disaster preparedness and risk reduction in support of climate change adaptation and future loss and damage (pag. 12).