The Minister of the Environment, Prof. Foday Moriba Jaward has launched the “Supporting Sierra Leone with the shift to electric mobility” project on Wednesday 24th November 2021 at the Civil Service Training College in Freetown.
The project is being piloted by the Government of Sierra Leone through the Environment Protection Agency of Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Transport through the support of the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Environment Programme.
The project aims to mitigate Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in Sierra Leone by accelerating the introduction of electric mobility through the development of legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks, capacity building, demonstration of pilot electric vehicles, development of business models for private sector engagement and finance schemes for up-scaling and replication.
The Minister of the Environment reiterated that addressing the negative impacts of air pollution, climate change, and reducing fossil fuel dependency of the transport sector in Sierra Leone is the thrust of the e-mobility project. It is no hidden secret that these issues are troubling and endangering “our efforts as a country to protect our environment for a healthy citizenry and biodiversity”.
According to Prof. Jaward, a global transition to low-and zero-emission mobility is essential to meeting international climate commitments, including the Paris Climate Agreement adding that the transport sector is a leading contributor to short- lived climate pollution, especially black carbon which can warm the Earth faster compared to carbon dioxide.
The Minister added that “the Government of Sierra Leone recognizes that the country’s over-reliance on imported fossil fuel poses several challenges to our bid to transition to a low emissions pathway that would reduce Green House Gas emissions and air pollution in the country”. Sierra Leone aims to maintain its emissions levels below 7.58 MtCO2e by 2035 and to be carbon neutral by 2050 according to a recent report of its National determine contributions.
Emmanuel Tamba Nyaka, chemicals control and management encouraged all stakeholders to support the project to help fight and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the country. Mr. Nyaka also said the project is going to be a continuous process for the benefit of the country.
The specific UNEP support to Sierra Leone through the EPA includes to help with the overall implementation of the project, supports the development of the National Strategy for Electronic Mobility, help with the identification of electric vehicles and suitable charging equipment, supports the EPA-SL with the call for proposals to identify the private sector partner for the demonstration project, contributes to the development of electric mobility policies and reviews and supports studies on renewable energy integration and reuse and recycling of batteries.
