Sal Island, Cabo Verde, 27 September 2021 - The island nation of Cabo Verde took advantage of the Ninth Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-IX) conference that ended recently in Sal Island, to showcase its climate smart initiatives aimed at building a carbon neutral development trajectory.
Cabo Verde used the CCDA-IX platform to underscore its green and blue recovery pathways as part of the management of the unique climate change risks that the country experiences as a small island developing state.
Cabo Verde is making progress towards generating 30 per cent of its electric energy supply from renewable sources by 2025. It is also in the process of transforming and overhauling its transport sector, with a target of increasing the share of electric vehicles to 26% of all vehicles by 2026, and ultimately replacing all fossil fuels based vehicles with electric cars by 2040.
According to Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, the implementation of this grand climate smart ambition has already started and is not confined to the road transport sector alone but involves other key sectors of the economy of Cabo Verde such as agriculture, tourism, health, fisheries and maritime transport among others.
Cabo Verde is diversifying its energy sources and has in the recent past intensified the roll-out of wind and solar power while at the same time exploring how it can harness tidal energy in its vast Exclusive Economic Zone.
In its quest for a climate resilient future, Cabo Verde has already mainstreamed climate change adaptation and mitigation in its development plans covering national and municipal levels of governance.
Away from green economic recovery measures, the country is currently holding talks with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on exploring ways and means of making use of its expansive blue space for a blue bond debt-for-nature swap, an innovative approach pioneered in Africa by the Seychelles a few years ago.
“We're exposed to extreme phenomena such as severe drought, irregular and severe rainfall, floods and also sea‑related disasters. Throughout its history, Cabo Verde has been faced with these extreme environmental phenomena.” Premier Correia e Silva says. “We have centuries of existence, more than five centuries of existence and we exist because we are resilient.”
More information on CCDA-IX: www.uneca.org/ccda9
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org