Senegal

THIS WEST AFRICAN country, formerly a French colony, has a land area of 75,955 sq. mi. (196,723 sq. km.), with a population of 12,379,000 (2006 est.) and a population density of 153 people per sq. mi. (59 people per sq. km.). Some 31 percent of the country is forested, with 12 percent being arable and a further 16 percent being used for meadows or pasture, mainly for cattle and sheep.

Senegal's entire electricity production comes from fossil fuels. The country has maintained a relatively stable level of carbon dioxide emissions from 0.4 metric tons per capita in 1990, rising to 0.44 metric tons by 2003. About 85 percent of this carbon dioxide comes from liquid fuels, with the remainder coming from cement manufacturing. In terms of sectors, that covering electricity and heat production accounts for 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, with 33 percent from transportation, 18 percent from manufacturing and construction, and 10 percent for private residences. The high level of emissions from transportation comes from the lack of adequate public transport systems and the heavy use of old minibuses, which have inefficient fuel usage rates. Although there is a railway in Senegal, connecting Dakar with Bamako, the capital of Mali, few people use it for travel within the country.

The effects of climate change and global warming will result in potential flooding on the Atlantic coast of the country. This has already led to coastal erosion in some parts of the country, with illegal mining adding to this problem, especially around Malika and Rufisque to the north of the Cap Vert peninsula. A rise in temperature will lead to more arable land becoming marginal, and probably to increased desertification. The Senegal government of Abdou Diouf took part in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed in Rio de Janeiro in May 1992, and ratified the Vienna Convention in the following year. On July 20, 2001, Senegal signed the Kyoto Protocol to the [Page 895]UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, with it entering into force on February 16, 2005.

Net fishing in Nianing, near Dakar, Senegal. Senegal has experienced coastal erosion in some areas.