Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

This Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), in its last updated version consistent with Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term Development Plan (2019-2023) and National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, represents Sierra Leone’s commitment and a road map to address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions threats, in compliance with the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement. This Document has been developed on the basis of a strong consultative process involving all key stakeholders across all sectors and with special consideration for the contribution of vulnerable groups, such as poor rural women and youths. Therefore, it offers a valuable instrument to the Government policymakers, development partners, universities to make proper decisions on climate change and environmental issues, and to improve investment and new green technologies. In its mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to achieve the transition towards a low carbon and a green growth economy, the NDC defines mitigation and adaptation measures involving the following sectors: energy, agriculture, food security, forestry and land-use, blue economy, water resources, fisheries, coastal zone management, tourism, disaster management, gender and social inclusion, infrastructure waste, industry.
This Document is divided into the following seven chapters: Chapter 1 provides an overview of the document, focusing on the relevant articles of the Paris Agreement and defining national circumstances that underlines the actions proposed in the NDC. Chapter 2 describes the revision process, including documents reviewed, stakeholder consultations held, technical assessments undertaken and validation of the current NDC. Chapter 3 reviews the national circumstances, covering the geographic, climatic, economic, and sociological issues that rationalise the steps put forward for addressing climate change risks, vulnerabilities, and impacts. Chapter 4 presents the country’s vision for climate change, the strategies and actions, various adaptation plans, climate change policies and strategies. Chapter 5 presents contributions for mitigation, highlighting the main sources of emission, changes in emission levels since 2015, and actions for reducing emissions until 2030. Chapter 6 examines previous proposals for adaptation to identify achievements and gaps and delineate next steps. Chapter 7 proposes strategies for implementation, including appropriate, sector-based, and gender-transformative plans for mobilising resources.
Concerning the various core sectors, the Document describes the areas where climate change mostly impacts: production of the primary crops; irrigation and other agricultural technologies; water requirements for crops; incidence of pest and disease outbreaks; increase in rainfall and consequent floods; food security; water quality and availability; industrial, domestic, agriculture water use; decreasing access to water resources; rising salinity of estuaries; loss of fish and aquatic plant species; damages to coastal economies due to the coastal erosion; rise of sea level; seafood poisoning; increase in dangerous pollutants; outbreak of communicable diseases; deforestation, biodiversity loss, and increase in invasive species; degraded land; forest reserves degradation; wastewater treatment. In order to achieve Sierra Leone’s Vision to climate change and its related objectives of mitigation and adaptation, this Document defines specific measures for each priority sector: increase universal energy access through the deployment of renewable energy technologies; actions to reduce emissions from local industry that endanger air quality; management of industrial, agricultural, animal and solid waste and of other hazardous substances that endanger health and ecosystem vitality; contribution to land use change and land cover change; focus on carbon impacts of forest loss, mining, and traditional agricultural practices, such as use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers; agro-investment land leases across the country, such as monoculture oil palm and sugarcane plantations; increase in agricultural and livestock production; blue economy in traditional maritime industries and fisheries sector; water availability for hydropower, impacts on thermal power plants; reduction of business risks of tourism companies; disaster risk reduction; gender and social inclusion.