France, though, AFD (public institution that implements France’s policy on development and international solidarity), has committed to finance the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to support the Government of Burkina Faso in the development of a long-term low emission and resilient development strategy (LT-LEDS) for 2050.
The strategy, which will be developed under the umbrella of the Ministry of Environment, Green Economy, and climate Change of Burkina Faso, will be presented to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2022. This is the country’s response to the Paris Agreement’s invitation to the Parties to strive to formulate and communicate such strategies, considering their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances.
Burkina Faso’s climate profile indicates that it is particularly vulnerable to the threat of climate change, with floods, bush fires, extreme heat and drought being the main risks. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the provisional report of the Third National GHG Inventory (2019), in 2015, total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Burkina Faso expressed in CO2 equivalent (Eq-CO2) were about 45,400 Gigagrams (Gg), an increase of 91% compared to 1995.
In 2015, the country adopted a National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (NAP) and has its first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in November 2016 after ratifying the Paris Agreement. Due to the country’s high vulnerability to climate change, and in relation to its low responsibility in global emissions, its financial needs for adaptation and mitigation are estimated at several billion US dollars. The NDC proposes unconditional and conditional GHG emission reduction scenarios at the national level, broken down by sector, with greater reduction efforts in the Energy, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sectors. A process of revision of this NDC is underway with a view to increasing its emission reduction ambitions for the period 2021-2025.
The LT-LEDS development aims to enhance the Burkina Faso Government’s ability through the Permanent Secretary in charge of the coordination of NDC (SP/CNDD), to plan for decarbonization of its economy in the long-term, by providing a framework and a pathway for a progressive revision and enhancement of targets under its NDC to reduce CO2 emissions to 2030 and beyond.
During the first One Planet Summit organized in Paris (December 2017), AFD committed to align its financial flows to the Paris Agreement by contributing to the establishment of low carbon and resilient trajectories.
In order to help countries, finance the Paris Agreement, AFD has established the “2050 Facility” which aims at supporting the development of long-term low-carbon and climate-resilient development strategies and accompanying the governance of low-carbon and resilient planning through stakeholder’s dialogue and capacity-building actions. The establishment of this long-term strategy is financed through this facility.
GGGI, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to supporting sustainable and inclusive development in developing countries, has been accompanying Burkina Faso in its climate agenda since 2018. In line with this, they committed to continue this support, at the request of the EFCCC.
For H.E. Mr. Luc Hallade, Ambassador of France to Burkina Faso, this new funding demonstrates France’s renewed commitment to accompany Burkina Faso on the crucial issue of climate and low-carbon development.
According to Mr. Simeon Sawadogo, Minister of Environment, Green Economy and Climate Change: “the strategy, which will be developed, will place Burkina Faso’s National Determined Contribution in the context of long-term planning, providing a vision and strategic direction for future development. ”
Finally, the GGGI country representative, Dr. Mallé Fofana, emphasized the inclusive nature of the development process, the quality of the document, and pledged to mobilize all necessary national and international expertise to make Burkina Faso’s strategy a global reference.