On 10 October 2024, in Dakar, Senegal, the Director General of Construction and Housing, as well as representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, the Directorate of Climate Change, Ecological Transition, and Green Financing in Senegal launched their national Climate Action Roadmap for Buildings and Construction.
This roadmap follows the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) framework, developed through a partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). It emphasizes reducing emissions and improving resilience across the entire life cycle of buildings, and sets ambitious short-, medium-, and long-term targets for decarbonizing the built environment, aligned with the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action. The roadmap is centred around four main cross-cutting objectives: (1) zero embodied carbon; (2) zero operational carbon; (3) adaptation; and (4) well-being and inclusion.
With great success and the strong involvement of public entities, the private sector, research institutions, academia, and numerous field practitioners, Senegal’s Roadmap sets ambitious actions and priorities for the decarbonization and resilience of the building sector. These efforts aim to achieve the 2030 and 2050 targets while informing the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Senegal is now in the spotlight, emerging as a pioneer and reference point in West Africa's construction sector. As the host of the African Biennale in November and December this year, Senegal aims to lead by example. Stakeholders have come together to endorse the Roadmap and affirm that the terms "Sustainable" and "Built Environment" can no longer be viewed in isolation.
