Gabon's climate change challenge

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National diagnosis

For the time being, the first phase of developing a Climate Plan consists of:

-        Establishing a regional diagnosis of greenhouse gas emissions in three sectors: energy, hydrocarbons and mines, and forests;

-        Analyzing public sector policies, in light of the reduction in and adaptation to climate change;

-        Analyzing the feasibility of modeling greenhouse gas emissions and removals in terms of development scenarios;

-        Analyzing studies on Gabon's vulnerability to the consequences of climate change and mapping planned actions and funding;

-        Undertaking an economic pre-assessment of current and future measures in the three key sectors in terms of reduction and adaptation;

-        Undertaking a pre-assessment in terms of tones of carbon avoided for the main policies and measures which have been identified;

-        Defining a national programme, the Climate Plan, to be presented in Durban in December 2011.

Available tools

Gabon is leading this forward-looking fight against climate change, and significant progress has been made. Thus, a certain number of tools are already available, thanks to the support of partners such as the United States, Brazil and France. In particular, these include:

-        The carbon reporting tool, made available by the French Development Agency (AFD);

-        The Gabonese Agency for Space Study and Observation (AGEOS), thanks to which forests, coasts and land are monitored by satellite.

International partnerships

Following Mr. Etienne Massard's contribution, the United States Ambassador, Eric Benjaminson, and the French Ambassador, Jean-François Desmazières, congratulated Gabon on its position in the fight against climate change. They also reaffirmed their countries' commitment to add various forms of support to this collective effort. They will be involved through technical and financial assistance to strengthen stakeholders' capacities. In this way, France participates in the establishment of AGEOS. The United States contributes through the LEDS programme (improving the ability to create low emission development strategies). Gabon is among the five countries in the world which have been selected in the context of this programme.

Anticipating rather than reacting

President Ali Bongo Ondimba closed the second meeting of the National Climate Council by raising the subject of the delay which has arisen in developing Gabon's Climate Plan and called upon all participants to work towards the project's success.

"Anticipating rather than reacting should be the rule from now on. [...] The future needs to be planned today. [...] The best way to guarantee success is to pool our efforts. [...] This fight isn't ours alone; it is also our children's and our grand-children's fight. [...]In light of our responsibilities, we must each be part of the solution."

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