The 2000 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory of The Gambia shows national emission total of about 20.02 Million Tons CO2 Equivalent (TCO2E) and per capita emissions of 13.5 TCO2E. This is insignificant compared to other country emissions. However, as a Party to the Climate Change Convention and its Kyoto Protocol, Gambia is willing to participate in mitigating global emissions and their concentrations in the atmosphere with the first step of conducting a mitigation assessment and developing this NAMA document. Trend analysis of climate data from 1951 to date shows a progressively warming and drier Gambia. Using General Circulation Model outputs, national temperatures are projected to increase by about 0.3OC in 2010 to about 3.9OC in 2100. Rainfall is also projected to decrease by about 1% in 2010 to about 54% in 2100. This confirms previous results of in the First National Communication that with increase in temperatures under a warming climate, rainfall in The Gambia would correspondingly decrease. The development challenges of The Gambia will be significant as the country faces complex economic, social and technological choices based on the climate change impacts already enumerated in the preceding paragraph. This is compounded by the inadequate capacities, inadequacies in the existing technologies and the non availability of domestic funding from both the public and private sectors for climate change.

With a national electrification rate of an estimated 40 per cent and with certain rural areas having an electrification rate as low as 6 per cent, the time is ripe in The Gambia for the Rural Electrification with Renewable Energy (RE) Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA). A number of building blocks have already been put in place in the country. The 2013 Renewable Energy Act provides the framework for both on and off-grid renewable energy tariffs and net metering, as well as establishing a national RE Fund. There has been development of pilot renewable energy projects as well as diesel powered multi-function platforms, which provide energy access for economic activities in rural areas. The NAMA has five key objectives which are: 1. Increase the level of renewable energy (for electricity) and contribute to the national long-term target of increasing the share of renewable energy within the power generation sector. 2. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the power generation sector. 3. Increase the rural population’s access to sustainable electricity. 4. Encourage an increase in rural community income generation, and improve rural livelihoods. 5. Increase the level of private sector participation within the power sector. These objectives will be accomplished through a number of activities, divided into Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase 1 activities will include the establishment of two types of ventures which will connect unelectrified rural communities: RE Community Energy Centres (RE-CEC) and RE Micro-Grids (RE-MGs). Phase 2 ventures will comprise RE systems which will displace thermal generation at existing regional grids (referred to as RE Displacement Systems—RE-DIS) and RE independent power producers (RE-IPPs).

The Republic of The Gambia ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994 committing the country to the adoption and implementation of policies and measures mitigating the causes of climate change and adapting to its adverse effects. This Second National Communication (SNC), prepared and submitted in fulfilment of Articles 4 and 12 of the UNFCCC follows and builds on the Initial National Communication (INC) submitted in 2003. Similarly, its preparation follows the UNFCCC guidelines and includes information on The Gambia‟s greenhouse gas inventory for the year 2000, a discussion of measures to mitigate emissions in the energy sector, vulnerability and promising adaptation measures in key socioeconomic sectors as well as other activities contributing to building resilience to climate change.