Senegal's Minister of Environment and Ecological Transformation calls on developed countries to comply with commitments

Diouf made evaluations to the AA correspondent within the scope of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) held in Antalya.

Expressing his appreciation for Türkiye's leadership within the scope of COP31, Diouf said, "Turkey has shown great determination in favor of the world, environment and climate, as well as in favor of the countries in the G77 Group. We also saw this in the slogans. Turkey really wanted to make this COP a COP of practice, a COP of action, a COP of consensus. As we see, this is reflected in the communication materials, but also and especially in President (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan's Leaders' "It was also reflected in his speech at the summit." shared his opinion.

"Sea level rise is destroying villages, homes, ecosystems, trees and livelihoods."

Diouf emphasized that this situation is not surprising for those who know Türkiye and said, "Senegal is here, as always. It is here to defend its own interests and the interests of Africa. Considering its decades-old leadership in the field of environment and climate, Senegal came here together with African countries and developing countries to convey a very strong message. This message is that developed countries must comply with the financial commitments they have made for years." he said.

Pointing out that Senegal is facing extremely serious effects of climate change, Diouf said, "Today, the rise in sea level destroys villages, residences, ecosystems, trees and livelihoods. Today, some villages had to relocate. Drought reduces agricultural productivity in Senegal. Floods cause losses expressed in thousands of dollars every year." he said.

Diouf pointed out that African countries' contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is less than 4 percent, and that these countries are more exposed to the effects of climate change.

"Climate change raises a human rights issue"

Pointing out that Senegal and developing countries are not among the main countries causing the negative effects of the climate crisis, Diouf emphasized that it is necessary and urgent for developed countries to fulfill their commitments.

Diouf said:

"What we really expect is that the developed countries comply with their commitments and become aware of the situation of the farmer who can no longer feed his family because of the climate change they caused. The developed countries are aware of the situation of this farmer whose house has been destroyed by the waves and who no longer has a home. They are aware of the situation of this farmer or animal breeder who has caught a disease related to climate change. Therefore, climate change raises a human rights issue. In this sense, our demand from this COP at least is that Western countries make efforts and provide financial resources to combat climate change." that they actually end stalling tactics in order to comply with their commitment to mobilize resources.”

Pointing out that developing countries have to borrow in order to cope with the effects that they did not cause but were caused by the countries that lent them money, Diouf said, "We think this is a great injustice." he said.

Diouf stated that there is a very dynamic cooperation between Turkey and Senegal in many sectors, but there is not much cooperation on the environment. "We also plan to work together with the ambassador and different actors of the Turkish private sector working to strengthen cooperation in the field of environment. This is a promising perspective and we plan to start this with the Zero Waste Initiative carried out by Türkiye's First Lady (President Erdoğan's wife, Emine Erdoğan)." he said.