Senegalese women rally, take aim at polluting countries

About 50 Senegalese women climate activists have hit the streets of Dakar to demand justice ahead of the COP29 United Nations climate summit in a march held annually since 2021, but that organisers say is particularly pertinent in 2024.

Participants yelled "Down with capitalism! Down with polluting countries!" as they marched through Dakar's Medina neighbourhood on Saturday, carrying banners and signs demanding the protection of Senegal's resources and calling for a decarbonised future.

"It's been four years that we've been marching, and nothing's changed," said Cheikh Niange Faye, a former tour guide from Senegal's Thies region.

"They're spending billions to do their conferences, but they owe us billions in compensation," she said, referring to the countries responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions.

"Us in the rural world, women from the rural world, this year we have seen a lot of floods."

Senegal has been impacted by record-breaking floods across the Sahel in 2024.

Flooding in recent months has left tens of thousands of people affected and more than 1000 hectares of crops damaged in the north and east of the country, according to government figures.

Activists in Senegal say the countries responsible for greenhouse gas emissions owe Africa for the suffering caused by the effects of climate change, citing data from the Carbon Disclosure Project that puts the continent's share of global emissions at just 3.8 per cent.

Khady Camara is an activist based in Dakar and the main organiser of the Senegal women's climate march.

She said ahead of the COP29, she was calling on countries to respect the Paris Agreement.

Environmental activist Khady Faye travelled to Dakar from her home near Senegal's Saloum Delta, a region that has suffered devastating coastal erosion.

Production at Senegal's first offshore drilling site at the Sangomar oil fields, off Senegal's coast near the delta, started this year.

Australian group Woodside Energy has an 82 per cent stake in the project.

"Think about the suffering of these communities, think about the suffering of these women," Faye said.

"Try to leave our delta alone, try to leave the gas at Sangomar underground, to let the community live normally."