With frequent droughts, high rainfall variability, and an economy heavily dependent on natural resources, Sudan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate variability and climate change. Access to data and information for evidence-based planning is crucial to helping the Sudanese people adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.
Spotlight: How water is helping to end 'the first climate change war'
Climate change affects all aspects of life. This is clearly felt in a country as vulnerable as Sudan which has, over the past decades, experienced increasing droughts, high rainfall variability, depletion of water sources, and desertification of millions of hectares.
Since 2013, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been implementing the Wadi El Ku Catchment Management Project, which was featured in The Guardian. In light of the climate emergency, this project aims to help establish climate-resilient livelihoods and reduce natural resource conflicts and displacement due to the loss of livelihoods in North Darfur. The Wadi El Ku Catchment Management project is funded by the European Union and implemented by UNEP in partnership with Federal and State Government, locally-based civil society organisations led by Practical Action, and local communities.
In 2016, UNEP began the Adapt for Environmental and Climate Resilience Project (or ADAPT!) which ended successfully in 2020. This project aimed to increase the understanding and integration of climate resilience and environmental management into programme delivery, plans, and policy across international humanitarian response, recovery, and development programmes in Sudan. It was designed to help government ministries, civil society groups, and local communities develop innovative solutions and establish lasting mechanisms to better coordinate climate action. ADAPT! was funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and implemented by UNEP in partnership with the Government of Sudan.
From 2011 to 2015, the UNEP supported the Sudan Integrated Environment Programme, through which the country was able to develop its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) in 2016, following a comprehensive and inclusive consultation process in all 18 states. Sudan is one of only thirteen countries which have submitted their NAP thus far. This document identifies challenges and recommendations for action in climate-vulnerable sectors such as water resources, agriculture and pastoralism, health, coastal zones, and energy.
One of the most important ways of achieving that is through the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). This document outlines efforts by each country that is a signatory to the Paris Agreement to reduce their national greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
UNEP continues to support national experts and coordination bodies develop, review, and implement Sudan’s NDC by providing technical advice, training for experienced delegates and young activists to help them prepare for annual climate change conferences, and support with the development of project proposals for vulnerable sectors.
Weather forecasts and climate projections also play an important role in enabling federal and local governments, farming communities, and pastoralists to prepare and budget for response plans in cases of droughts, heavy rainfall, flooding, and related disease outbreaks. The ADAPT! project was notably supporting the Sudan Meteorological Authority with the development of a roadmap for the expansion of its climate services with a view to better inform the public and decision-makers.
Throughout this work, there was an emphasis on understanding how climate change is connected to and overlaps with gender issues, environmental governance, sustainable development, and poverty reduction.
Along with the ADAPT! project, the UNEP office in Sudan supports several global projects, such as:
- The Climate Change and Security Project: Building Resilience to Climate-related Security Risks
- The International Climate Change Initiative (IKI) Project on Adaptation to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan African Humanitarian Situations.
- Enhancing the Resilience of Communities Living in Climate Change Vulnerable Areas of Sudan Using Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Adaptation.
- The MapX Project on geo-spatial data, offering impartial and independent mapping and monitoring of natural resources.
In 2018, the EU-UNEP partnership on Climate Change and Security established the just mentioned Climate Change and Security Project in the Wadi El Ku catchment area of North Darfur State, Sudan. Seeking to address the underlying drivers of conflict in the region, the pilot used a combination of climate change adaptation and peace building activities to promote more effective and equitable management of shared natural resources between and among different groups.
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