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Adapting coastal cities and territories to sea level rise in West Africa: Challenges and leading practices

Explore current practices, challenges, and solutions for coastal cities adapting to sea level rise in West Africa.
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This article is an abridged version of the original text, which can be downloaded from the right-hand column. Please access the original text for more detail, research purposes, full references, or to quote text.

Introduction

West Africa’s coastal regions are rapidly urbanising, with a growing population drawn to economic opportunities in cities like Dakar, Lagos, and Accra. This concentration increases vulnerability to sea level rise, erosion and flooding, with impacts already felt in coastal cities and posing significant challenges, potential economic and social disruption, with vulnerable communities, particularly women, facing heightened risks. Human activities, including unplanned urban sprawl and infrastructure development, worsen the problem – notably by damaging protective ecosystems such as mangroves.

Efforts to address these challenges include regional agreements like the Abidjan Convention and coastal management programs. However, many policies are poorly implemented, and urban development often proceeds without considering the risks. While protective measures such as seawalls and beach nourishment have been implemented, they frequently fail due to high costs and maintenance issues, leaving cities exposed to future threats.

Recent shifts toward nature-based solutions and early warning systems are notable. A few cities, such as Guet Ndar in Senegal, are trialling long-term relocation of communities. However, most West African coastal cities remain insufficiently prepared for the increasing threats posed by sea level rise, particularly secondary cities that lack financial resources for adaptation.

The Sea’ties initiative proposes a report that addresses three aspects to accelerate coastal adaptation across West Africa:

  1. Strengthening and sharing knowledge about the West African coastline to inform adaptation;
  2. Promoting integrated, place-based governance;
  3. Increasing funding for sustainable adaptation strategies in coastal cities and territories.

Methodology

This report draws on discussions held during the Sea’ties workshop “Adapting coastal cities and territories to sea level rise in West Africa” organised by the Ocean & Climate Platform, in partnership with the Centre de Suivi Écologique, and with the support of Climate Chance, on October 5, 2022, in Dakar, Senegal, as well as a series of individual interviews conducted between October 2022 and February 2023. The Sea’ties workshop brought together more than 60 participants to discuss their practices, the obstacles encountered and their needs in terms of producing and sharing knowledge, how to mobilise financial and private stakeholders to fund solutions, and engage and include local actors in adaptation strategies.

Key findings

1. Strengthening and sharing coastal knowledge to inform adaptation

  • Increasing, diversifying, standardising and cross-referencing various types of data is crucial to reach an integrated understanding of coastal risks and vulnerabilities, and to improve the accuracy of global sea level rise modelling. This will necessitate significant investment in human resources (university education), research facilities (centres of excellence, laboratories) and technical capabilities (hardware and software, measuring instruments, GPS).
  • To compensate for the scarcity of resources, cost-effective and simpler research methods and protocols can be developed, such as using declarative and perception surveys and focusing research efforts in the most exposed areas, while further involving stakeholders through participatory research and observation programmes. Similarly, establishing cross-border networks and platforms to share data and knowledge allows the pooling of resources and expertise, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of regional coastal dynamics.
  • Strengthening dialogue between researchers on the one hand, and decision-makers, financial organisations and communities on the other is crucial to facilitate the practical application of available knowledge. New tools and multi-stakeholder networks for exchanging and disseminating knowledge (platforms, social media, information meetings) can be mobilised for researchers and decision-makers to express and identify their respective needs while supporting informed approaches.

2. Promoting integrated, place-based coastal governance

  • Legislations that are specific to the management of coastal areas should be defined, applied and updated to allow for an integrated approach. National and regional guidance ought to be provided to encourage local stakeholders to conceive the risks and opportunities of adaptation in collaboration with neighbouring municipalities as well as inland communities over the long term and in an innovative way.
  • Additional resources, training and cooperation frameworks can facilitate the achievement of this sustainable, place-based approach. Networks of cities and local elected officials, even diasporas, are key drivers for developing cooperation, pooling resources and building capacity.
  • The design and implementation of adaptation strategies must account for the political, economic and socio-cultural power dynamics that influence city planning in order to avoid maladaptation. This implies greater representation and engagement of customary law authorities, organised groups (associations, women, young people, fishermen, etc.), as well as taking into account informal settlements that develop outside legal provisions.

3. Increasing funding for sustainable adaptation strategies for coastal cities

  • To ensure that coastal adaptation strategies effectively address local challenges, cities should actively participate in both their technical and financial conducts. To this end, cities need assistance in designing financial engineering tailored to their needs, which should be provided by national governments and ministries, as well as intermediaries such as banks, local development agencies and chambers of commerce and industry, support programmes and city networks.
  • Faced with the considerable expenses of adaptation and aiming to reduce their reliance on international funding, coastal cities need to diversify their sources of finance. Striving for greater financial autonomy, cities should seek out new funding sources and mechanisms, notably through increased private investment in sustainable adaptation projects.
  • Investments must support sustainable adaptation projects based on dynamic, multi-criteria analyses that integrate the effects of climate change. In that sense, local planners and financial donors must develop financial engineering tools that can help build long-term adaptation projects.

Citation and more info

Ocean & Climate Platform. (2023). Adapting Coastal Cities and Territories to Sea Level Rise in West Africa: Challenges and Leading Practices. 60 pp.

The Ocean & Climate Platform (OCP) is an international network of more than 100 organisations from civil society – including NGOs, research institutes, foundations, local authorities, international organizations, and private sector entities – that draws on the best available science to promote ocean-based solutions to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. The OCP provides a space where relevant stakeholders can engage in a constructive dialogue, fostering exchanges and reflections. Through its role as a science-policy interface, the OCP supports decision makers in need of scientific information and guidance in the definition and implementation of public policies.

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