National Climate Change Policy 2016-2025

OBJECTIVE

The main goal of the Policy is, by 2025, to achieve the mainstreaming of climate change into national planning, budgeting, decision-making, and programme implementation, through effective institutional mechanisms, coordinated financial resources, and enhanced human resources capacity.

CONTENT

In order to achieve the goal and move towards the vision of this Policy, the following key
policy objectives will be pursued:

• Advance the understanding, capacity, and social empowerment of all Gambians so that they can adequately respond to climate change.
• Ensure adequate climate change research for informed decision making, and promote timely access to climate information and early warning of climate risks.
• Put in place sound and equitable adaptation and mitigation measures.
• Effectively integrate climate change into all sectors and across all scales.
• Build the resilience of communities and ensure health and welfare through participatory, equitable and pro-poor approaches to climate change.
• Integrate community-based adaptation with ecosystem-based approaches to strengthen. people’s adaptive capacities and develop more climate-resilient livelihoods.
• Coordinate national and international financial resource mobilization to address climate change.

Four strategic and integrated focal areas for priority policy intervention are identified in this Policy:

• Climate-resilient food systems and landscapes: Agriculture, food security, forestry and natural resources, including water, biodiversity, and wildlife
• Low emissions and resilient economy: Energy, transport, infrastructure, and the key economic sectors of tourism and financial services
• Climate-resilient people: Health, education, equitable social development, and human settlements
• Managing coastlines in a changing environment: climate-aware Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Each of the four thematic clusters necessitates an informed and constructive dialogue on adaptation and mitigation priorities, within the framework of climate-resilient development that underpins this Policy.