This Green Economy Assessment Study was created under the Green Economy Initiative launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2008. It aims to enable Senegal to seize the opportunities offered by the green economy. Firstly, it seeks to demonstrate, based on strong macroeconomic arguments, the merits of investing in sectors producing goods and services that add value to, or are respectful of, the environment. It then aims to give guidance on means of promoting green investments that benefit the poor in order to drive the “Emerging Senegal” strategic plan.
Natural resources, including agriculture, fisheries and water, have a decisive influence on Senegal's economic performance. They still form the basis of economic activities on which at least 60 per cent of the population directly depends, including many rural populations. They, therefore, contribute, decisively, to food security, employment, revenue generation and the national economy.
However, pressure on these resources is only growing, to the point that their intensive use is threatening economic security. It is important, therefore, to preserve the ecosystems supplying and renewing these resources so essential to the country. Therefore, agriculture, fisheries, forestry and water have been identified as sectors in which not only should natural capital be better integrated into private sector decision making, but in which a variety of policy measures should be implemented in order to change practices and ensure the sustainability of resources.
Beyond the intensive use of natural capital, the economy of Senegal is growing through carbon-inefficient technologies. Moreover, this growth is largely sustained by behaviour that generates a massive accumulation of waste. Therefore, energy efficiency and the transition to the use of renewable energy, as well as waste management, should also be priority action sectors in the green economy.