Sierra Leone

It takes only twelve days for the average Canadian to produce as much greenhouse gases as the average Sierra Leonean will produce over the course of the entire year.  Therefore, January 12th (twelve days into the year) is "Climate Change Impacts in Sierra Leone Day."

According to Maplecroft’s Climate Change Risk Atlas 2010, “Sierra Leone is the fourth most vulnerable country in the world, assessed by capacity to adapt to the impact of climate change.” 

OneWorld.net’s country briefing for Sierra Leone explains that the country’s farmers have already “lost confidence in the timing of their planting, unsettled by the incidence of wet and dry seasons in recent years,” due to climate change.  And “with 70% of the population trapped below the national poverty line and the rural economy almost entirely dependent on rain-fed agriculture, households are poorly placed to cope with any change.”

As well, “Sierra Leone faces the risk of flooding, salinisation and damage to its marine habitat from the rising tides of the warming Atlantic Ocean. Some property loss through coastal erosion has already been reported.”

Sierra Leone’s remaining forest territory is highly vulnerable “to a high rate of degradation, under considerable pressure from ‘slash and burn’ clearance for agriculture, cattle ranching and mining interests” leading to increased desertification.  “Over 90% of the country’s energy production is sourced from wood fuel and charcoal.”