Addressing the climate change challenges in Saint-Louis, Senegal

On the island city of Saint-Louis in Senegal, coastal erosion has become an existential threat from exposure to climatic hazards. The city also faces climate change and environmental challenges - floods, land and ecosystem degradation, fishery decline, and poor waste management.

Both the physical and socio-economic characteristics of the city make it vulnerable to climate change. Numerous government and donor-led resilience interventions have been implemented in Saint-Louis. However, there has been little participation by the private sector at scale.

Genesis partnered with FSD Africa and Umoa Titres to develop a study that determines the feasibility of deploying a financial instrument to address climate change, environmental and/or waste management challenges in the city of Saint-Louis, Senegal. 

The project team developed a problem statement defined as a research question: “What financial instrument(s) can be feasibly/effectively deployed under current conditions to address environmental and climate change challenges in Saint-Louis, Senegal?”

To answer the research question, the team carried out a diagnostic assessment to understand the challenges – extent of damage, causes and consequences; and the enabling environment using a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. The assessment provided a mapping of remedial adaptation and resilience-building measures while validating their applicability to both Saint-Louis and other coastal cities in the West African region.

After a process of ranking based on desktop analysis, two rounds of stakeholder consultations and a validation workshop with experts in multiple domains, impact bonds were identified as the best- placed tool to be deployed. We also developed a work plan for how to turn this recommendation into action. The client will be publishing the final report (along with videos) to launch the findings during COP27.

Can impact bonds to address climate change challenges in Senegal? Read the full report here