Supporting Djibouti to advance their NAP Process

The Republic of Djibouti is small coastal territory in the Horn of Africa. Its climate is semi-desert and is already becoming quite extreme on a regular basis. Records indicate an increase in average temperature of 1.5 °C since 1990, and the frequency of extreme events, in particular droughts and floods, has increased over the last three decades. In 1994 and 2004, two major floods affected more than 200,000 people, and in 2008 a severe drought wiped out half of the livestock population. An extended drought during 2008 - 2011 caused damages equivalent to 3 percent of country’s GDP during the same period. The economic impacts of this crisis persist today.

 

Djibouti has a small population of 900,000 but has a strategic geolocation that allows it to control the Strait of Babel Mandeb, an important gateway to the Horn of Africa and the wider region of East Africa. As a result, transport and logistics services have been the driver of the country's rapid and sustained economic growth over the last 15 years, which averaged 3.1 percent (GDP per capita) between 2001 and 2017. Despite this growth, Djibouti is still a poor country with roughly one fifth of the population living below the poverty line, and a ranking of 172 out of the 189 countries assessed in the Human Development Index (2018). With over 75 percent of the population living in coastal areas, coastal interventions should be prioritised. The two most acute climate risks facing the coastal zones are sea level rise and increased precipitation. These changes are expected to degrade and even eliminate tourism in several areas due to coastal erosion and damaged infrastructure, while variability in rainfall threatens the nomadic livestock farming. In addition, the female population is especially vulnerable to climate change. For example, women are traditionally responsible for water collection, which becomes significantly more difficult during droughts. Ensuring gender equality and climate change, and the way they interlink, is considered in every decision-making process at national and regional levels, is essential for Djibouti’s development and their pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Djibouti has initiated several adaptation actions to deal with climate change. The National Adaptation Action Program (NAPA), submitted to the UNFCCC in 2006, identified the sectors most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as water resources, agriculture and livestock, forestry, and coastal and marine ecosystems. In 2014, the government adopted a new framework that sets a long-term direction - the 2035 vision – and in 2015 it submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for the reduction of greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement. The INDC, now an NDC, reaffirms Djibouti's commitment to adaptation, stating the following as priorities: (i) reducing vulnerability to drought; (ii) protection against sea level rise; (iii) improving access to water; (iv) the protection of biodiversity; and (v) strengthening the resilience of rural populations.