From 10 to 12 February 2026, Senegal held technical consultations in Diamniadio on the use of trade as a tool for climate action. Organised with technical support from UNCTAD, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of the Environment and Ecological Transition, these meetings brought together representatives from government departments, the private sector and independent national experts.
The consultations aimed to enhance the role of trade as a tool for climate action, in the context of updating and implementing the Nationally Determined Contribution.
Key findings
The technical consultations highlighted, in particular:
- The need to strengthen coherence between trade, industrial and climate policies, and to maintain an ongoing dialogue between stakeholders in the trade, environment and productive sectors;
- The role of trade in accessing clean technologies, achieving low-carbon economic diversification and building resilience to climate change;
- The importance of identifying import and export sectors of strategic interest in terms of climate action;
- The need to better anticipate the impact on Senegalese exports of the climate standards and measures adopted by the country’s trading partners.
The discussions highlighted the strategic importance of several sectors, notably renewable energy, fisheries products, mining, construction and public works, petroleum products and transport. They also resulted in a series of proposals for trade-related measures aimed at facilitating access to clean technologies, strengthening the resilience of key sectors and better anticipating changes in climate requirements in export markets. Finally, a roadmap for implementing the conclusions of the consultations was drawn up.
Senegal is the third country, after The Gambia and Madagascar, to hold technical consultations based on the UNCTAD guide on using trade to support the implementation of national climate action plans.
