Seychelles

1. Introduction

This analysis revises Seychelles’ NDCs from a young feminist perspective, investigating how this small island developing state (SIDS) can better integrate gender equality and include young people in NDCs. This exercise initiated by Care About Climate aims to promote more ambitious and inclusive climate action in governments around the world while strengthening young people’s capacity to tackle climate change. Using publicly accessible documents and knowledge gained from contributors of Seychelles’ NDCs who shared insights at a recent Local Conference of Youth (LCOY), the climate ambassador and mentors have gained substantive material to evaluate these national commitments. 

2. Background

As a SIDS, Seychelles is particularly vulnerable to climate change.  Rising sea levels and temperatures, ocean acidification, saltwater intrusion, retreating coastlines, more intense and less predictable weather are some of the impacts Seychelles is experiencing and will need to adapt to in the coming years. Seychelles’ economic pillars, tourism, and fisheries are set to be severely compromised by climate change as they depend on critical infrastructure (roads, utilities, hotels, ports, and airports) and natural resources (fish, endemic flora, and fauna, beaches, and coral reefs) which are exposed to climate change. Furthermore, Seychelles’ natural resources, already strained from land-use change and mismanagement, invasive species, overfishing, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, pollution, and other anthropogenic activities, reduce Seychelles’ resilience to climate change and further permit the climate crisis to be an existential threat.

Consequently, the Seychelles government has formulated various plans that directly and indirectly tackle climate change including the Seychelles National Development Strategy 2019-2023, Seychelles’ 100% Renewable Energy Strategy (SeyRES 100), Seychelles Sustainable Development Strategy (2011-2020), and two National Climate Change Strategies (2009 & 2020) among others. The government also works with several key national (GOS-UNDP-GEF Coordination Unit of Seychelles) and international partners ( GCCA+)  in the implementation of national projects and local initiatives. Seychelles has even made use of innovative financing in the creation of the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SEYCCAT) to begin adapting to climate change. Ultimately, the clearest statement of Seychelles’ plans in tackling climate change rests with its NDCs.

In September 2015, Seychelles submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) and in July 2021 submitted its revised NDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These timely submissions, which are compared in the table below, show a strong commitment from Seychelles in responding to the climate crisis, which it is least responsible for, yet most vulnerable to. This analysis, based on a review of Seychelles’ NDCs and through communication with those involved with their creation, finds that women and youth groups are underrepresented in these documents indicating that the disproportionate impacts of climate change faced by women and youth and the significant role of these marginalized groups in tackling the climate crisis and have not been fully acknowledged nor adequately addressed.

Gender inequality and youth inclusion are a concern in Seychelles and are reflected in their low yet disparate poverty data distribution. Youth poverty rates run three times higher than the average rate and female youth poverty is nine times higher than male youth poverty. It is a well-known fact that climate change exacerbates existing inequalities, subsequently women and youth face greater negative impacts than men. Important national policies and international commitments, such as the NDCs, should be careful not to ignore or exacerbate these inequalities. Rather, they must be tools used to develop inclusive and just adaptations and mitigation mechanisms. Climate action that fails to integrate gender and include youth will fail to effectively address the climate crisis. As a SIDS, a marginalized and underrepresented party, Seychelles should be in a position to understand the plight of women and youth and do better in their inclusion.

Nevertheless, to help prevent global average temperatures from surpassing the 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, Seychelles is committed under its revised NDC to economy-wide absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions of 122.5 ktCO2e (21.4%) by 2025 and 188 ktCO2e by 2030 (29.0%) compared to the business as usual (BAU) scenario. These reductions which cover GHGs produced by electricity production, land transport, and solid waste are estimated to cost at least $309 million by 2030 and are expected to be covered by domestic funding and international climate financing. In terms of adaptation, Seychelles is increasing the regulation of its coastal planning and relying on Nature-based Solutions (NBS) and blue carbon ecosystems (BCE). The below table provides a summary overview of Seychelles NDCs.

3. 2015 INDC

3.a Inclusion of gender 

Seychelles has taken a favorable stance on the gender and climate change nexus by explicitly mentioning gender in its adaptation strategy and long-term vision goals. The Seychelles government has committed to improving "gender-sensitive capacity building, research, and education" to reinforce its climate adaptation efforts. Moreover, its INDCs explicitly mention the need for “social empowerment at all levels" to promote “an innovative, knowledge-led and gender-sensitive approach" under its long-term vision. NDC youth analysts found the term ‘gender-sensitive’ to be unclear and abstract in the 2015 NDC context. However, the following examples of this term have been formulated from external documents:

• Catalyzing actions that recognize and integrate the different vulnerabilities, knowledge, and roles of women;

• Empowering women as agents of change and innovation by eliminating barriers that prevent women from leading, participating in, and benefiting from climate adaptations and mitigations mechanisms. 

• Ensuring the acceptance and accessibility of new adaptation mechanisms to women in all communities;

As such, the government must provide more specific information on how it plans to build such capacity in Seychelles, explaining what strategies will be used to equip women with the skills and resources to help them adapt to climate change. Nevertheless, incorporating social empowerment in Seychelles’ INDC is a promising step towards a just green recovery as inclusive policies are crucial for an effective and resilient climate action strategy. Such policies will not only help achieve the Paris Agreement but also advance Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) particularly SDG 5 - achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 

Seychelles regards climate adaptation as a high priority and intends to mobilize more than $295 million by 2030. However, currently, Seychelles lacks data on the specific impacts of climate change, leaving gaps in its long-term climate adaptation strategy. Subsequently, research has been highlighted as an urgent action point in its 2015 NDCs to help experts gain a deeper understanding of threats and develop a more effective roadmap. Research on gender-oriented issues induced by climate change will support the formulation of new solutions, help create gender-inclusive policies and aid authorities understand which mechanisms are most impactful.

The 2015 NDC also states that the implementation commitments around gender will be nationally monitored, reviewed, updated, and reported by The Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE). Seychelles has shown increased interest in short-term goals surrounding monitoring outputs as opposed to traditional longer-term outcomes. This interest is a step in the right direction. With Seychelles already suffering from climate change impacts, focusing on short-term goals can foster more attainable goals and a much-needed result-oriented environment for action.

3.a Inclusion of Youth

The National Climate Change Committee is a multi-stakeholder group chaired by the MACCE, is an example of the Seychelles government's interest in collaborating with a diverse range of actors to tackle climate change. The 2015 NDC mentions youth for the first time in its monitoring section and indicates that the 2015 NDC was developed using a participatory multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral consultative process where a manifold of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders was engaged and consulted. The 2015 NDC also recognizes that the integration of required sustainable modern agriculture and resource management practices is contingent on available skilled human capacity. Subsequently, Seychelles has committed supplementary resources to enhance human capacity at ministerial bodies such as the Seychelles Agricultural Agency by providing opportunities for young Seychellois to study climate-smart and EBA agriculture. 

4. 2021 First NDC

The 2021 NDC has demonstrated Seychelles’ major interest in NBS and EBA as new commitments include protection of BCE (seagrass, mangroves, and saltmarshes) which can sequester up to five times more carbon than other types of forests, and in the case of seagrass that can absorb carbon dioxide 35 times faster than tropical forests. Thus, it might be unsurprising that for the first time seagrass research and protection featured prominently in Seychelles’ NDC where Seychelles has pledged to protect 50% of seagrass and mangrove ecosystems by 2025, and 100% by 2030. Moreover, in this NDC Seychelles has also committed to adopting a ‘Ridge to Reef’ approach for coastal management. The ridge to reef approach is a holistic mechanism to preserve the coastal area by addressing environmental degradation in the uplands in turn rejuvenating water-based ecosystems downstream. This approach creates synergy among terrestrial, coastal, and marine biomes and ensures no aspect is disregarded. Seychelles also consigns to implementing its Marine Spatial Plan, a Coastal Management Plan, the Blue Economy Roadmap, and the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, to promote biodiversity conservation in its 2021 NDCs. The 2021 NDCs are much more inclusive of the women and youth demographic in various stages such as planning, coordinating, implementing, and bringing forth actionable and achievable goals. Resultantly, the first revision has garnered praise and support from manifold states and organizations and has been an overall success.

4.a Inclusion of Gender and Youth in the Planning Process

Seychelles undertook a community-centric approach for its revised NDCs by organizing public participation opportunities, synthesizing multiple partnerships, and conducting outreach initiatives with stakeholders from government and local communities. With COVID-19 constraints pandemic zoom, telephone communication, and Google Forms were primary tools for data collection. Based on the data gathered key gaps were identified and the 2021 NDC was formulated. In turn, a more gender-responsive NDC was composed, one that attempted to address issues of inequality across sectors and different levels of decision-making. However, admission by the developers of the 2021 NDC (at the recent LCOY) indicates that there was a shortfall in youth consultation and representation. Still, the multistakeholder consultation and review of relevant reports resulted in the formation of three action points:

• Review of 2015 NDC through gender and youth perspective;

• An analytical study on the relationship between climate change, gender, and youth; 

• Citizen’s charter for climate action and empowerment.

4.b Inclusion of Gender

The revised NDCs have reported gender-centric indicators as a priority by involving funding and action points around “vulnerability assessments" and the formulation of “protective measures informed by sex-disaggregated population data” in the 2021 NDC. Moreover, the NDC also commits to addressing issues around "sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence" as part of its evaluation. Women are disproportionately impacted by climate change however there is limited data to measure women’s role and engagement in climate adaptation subsequently the subject is often overlooked by governments, the private sector, academia, civil society, and intergovernmental organizations. By actively collecting and analyzing sex-disaggregated data experts can easily identify trends, raise awareness of the issue and implement appropriate mechanisms to protect vulnerable communities. The revised NDCs also commit financial support to "building more climate and gender-responsive social protection systems". Both action points are actionable, achievable, and support the integration of gender equality principles and practices. 

4.c A Case Study of the Inclusion of Gender in the Economic Sphere

Seychelles’ fishing industry as previously mentioned is a central pillar of its economy and is extremely important for this SIDS’ food sovereignty and employment security. Industrial tuna fishing provides approximately 17% of the country’s employment and 68% of export trade according to data from the Central Intelligence Agency (2016) and World Bank (2017). However, climate-induced changes in seawater acidity and temperature affect migratory species of fish like tuna. These changes impact migration patterns and increase the propensity for diseases, parasites, and harmful algal blooms that can severely reduce catch while increasing catch effort and costs.  

With such terrifying eventualities, Seychelles has committed to increased resources management and the “inclusion across gender in the “downstream of the sector”. While there are limited details on implementation and monitoring strategy, Dr. Daniel Etongo, the selected gender specialist for the fisheries sector has hinted towards the formation of green jobs for women in the industry. The expressed adaptations measures in both NDCs provide the perfect opportunity to create new jobs and Seychelles has effectively leveraged this opening by promoting a resilient blue economy while furthering the economic empowerment of women in the fisheries industry.

5. Conclusion

Overall, Seychelles had demonstrated applaudable commitment towards meaningfully incorporating women and youth in its latest NDC. The majority of current NDCs fail to address gender and life-course-related risks, vulnerabilities, and inequalities; however, Seychelles has tried to integrate social justice and equity needs by committing to creating new and better jobs, safeguarding female reproductive rights, and formulating a consultative engagement mechanism for developing climate strategies. These actions can be seen in the 2021 NDC which has shown considerable improvement in terms of gender and youth inclusivity compared to the 2015 NDCs. With new and stronger commitments to dedicate research and funds to better understand the climate change impacts on women and youth in Seychelles, it is up to the public and these very groups to hold the government accountable. With improved communication (commitment to translating the 2021 NDC into creole) it’s important to recognize the efforts to remove barriers and increase accessibility.

However, the specific impacts of climate change on Seychellois women have not been adequately investigated in the 2021 NDC, indicating that the government would not be in a position to anticipate and meet the needs of women who have and will be impacted by climate change.  The lack of direct youth consultation in NDC formulation is a major concern as climate change priorities are cross-sectoral and require coordinated actions between government, civil society, women, youth groups, and the private sector to build effective climate resilience. Consequently, more emphasis should be placed on understanding the impacts of climate change on women and youth, with relevant policies and detailed frameworks being drafted to help these groups be more involved.  Youth inclusion in both documents is limited and LCOY discussions emphasized the need and opportunity to correct the implementation and evaluation of the current NDC.

Ultimately, NDCs must facilitate just and inclusive climate action plans that are gender and youth responsive, locally-led, and globally connected. Consequently, the inclusion and leadership of women and youth play are crucial to their development and in achieving the aim of equitable climate adaptation and mitigation policies as well as actions. However, women and young people face barriers in access to technology, quality education, finance, and economic opportunities that prevent them from leading, participating in, and benefiting from a green recovery. To overcome such hurdles Seychelles must craft clear, specific, and ambitious policies that empower women and youth. After analyzing both of Seychelles’ NDCs we have formulated several recommendations categorized under five themes: accessibility, empowerment, incentives collaboration, and monitoring and evaluation.  

6. Recommendations

Translating the NDC into creole increases accessibility, but to further this effort NDC communication must engage people through infographics, short videos, and interactive activities that target youth, women, and other marginalized groups. In addition, the NDC must use the most specific language that in turn helps its aims be understood and SMART.

6.a Empowerment

To overcome the aforementioned barriers, regular (yearly) national capacity assessments to identify the needs of, as well as resources for, women and youth are critical to empowering them to not only meaningfully influence NDCs but also lead climate action. Surveys and the promotion of training or an LCOY can be exercises that contribute to this recommendation. Ensuring these groups are provided transport, the internet is also crucial.

6.b Incentives

Creating new and innovative ways to finance and non-financially support women or youth-led initiatives, projects, and campaigns. For example, SeyCCAT could launch grants (micro or otherwise) that only young people and women can apply for.

6.c Collaboration

Leverage national and international partnerships to elevate women and youth voices, ensure dialogues treat them as equals, and not tokens who can make climate action a priority. 

6.d Monitoring and Evaluation

Involve youth and gender groups in monitoring and evaluation of NDC commitments.