Senegalese women take aim at polluting countries in march for climate justice

DAKAR, Senegal -- About 50 Senegalese women climate activists hit the streets of Dakar Saturday to demand climate justice ahead of COP29 in a march held annually since 2021, but that organizers say is particularly pertinent this year.

Participants yelled “Down with capitalism! Down with polluting countries!” as they marched through Dakar’s Medina neighborhood, carrying banners and signs demanding protection of Senegal’s resources and calling for a decarbonized future.

“It’s been four years that we’ve been marching, and nothing’s changed. They’re spending billions to do their conferences, but they owe us billions in compensation,” said Cheikh Niange Faye, a former tour guide from Senegal’s Thiès region, referring to the countries responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Us in the rural world, women from the rural world, this year we have seen a lot of floods.”

This year saw record breaking floods across the Sahel, and Senegal was no exception. Flooding in recent months has left tens of thousands of people affected and more than 1,000 hectares of crops damaged in the north and east of the country according to government figures.

Activists in Senegal say the countries responsible for greenhouse gas emissions owe Africa for the suffering caused by the effects of climate change, citing data from the Carbon Disclosure Project that puts the continent’s share of global emissions at just 3.8%.

Khady Camara is an activist based in Dakar and the main organizer of the Senegal women’s climate march. She said ahead of the COP29 she is calling on countries to respect the Paris Agreement.

Khady Faye is an environmental activist who traveled to Dakar from her home near Senegal’s Saloum Delta, a region which has suffered devastating coastal erosion.

Production at Senegal’s first offshore drilling site at the Sangomar oil fields, off Senegal’s coast near the delta, started this year. Australian group Woodside Energy has an 82% stake in the project.

“Think about the suffering of these communities, think about the suffering of these women. Try to leave our delta alone, try to leave the gas at Sangomar underground, to let the community live normally,” Faye said.