Togo: From strategy to climate and energy action

Representatives from the 56 Togolese cities that are signatories of the Covenant of Mayors for Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) met in Sokodé for a two-day training workshop organised by Expertise France, the implementing partner of the CoM SSA in Togo, with funding from the European Union.

During this workshop, the GRET-PADIE consortium teams trained 56 CoM SSA focal points in consultation tools, which should enable the communes to transform the knowledge of the territories acquired during the diagnostic phases into a real Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP) by ensuring effective citizen mobilization and participation.

Cities' response to the effects of climate change is everyone's business

The first day of training was dedicated to the participatory approach and saw the participants listen to several speeches from technical and financial partners (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie -OIF, United Nations Development Programme -UNDP, and Expertise France) on the conditions for successful financing, with a particular focus on developing local projects consistent with national climate-energy objectives, and on citizen participation. Participants received theoretical training on the definition and prioritisation of actions and the design of action sheets in consultation and implementation and monitoring of projects. In a second phase, participants carried out practical workshops in small groups on the following topics: (1) generating ideas for climate action, (2) prioritising climate-energy actions; (3) co-constructing an action sheet. This practical workshop achieved a high level of participation. It brought to light more than 40 project ideas in the fields of waste, natural resource conservation, access to energy, agriculture, and spatial planning.

The second day was focused on the cross-cutting issues of waste and climate in Togo, allowing the focal points to listen to and exchange with professional actors in this field. Speakers included GRET, the pilot communes of Tchaoudjo 1 and Kloto 1, who shared their experience in waste management; the NGOs ENPRO and Entrepreneurs du Monde, which are implementing projects in the sector and the first of which benefits from carbon credits, and the NGO Stadd, which presented the challenges of citizen participation in the waste issue.

The workshop ended with a visit to projects implemented by the Commune of Tchaoudjo 1 related to waste, climate and energy sectors. The beneficiaries were able to see the sludge treatment plant supported by the town hall, the civil society of the locality (Sokodé) as well as the site of the future Technical Landfill Centre (TLC) of the commune. It was also an opportunity to visit the site of the photovoltaic farm of the Regional Hospital Centre, a project supported by the commune within the framework of its decentralised cooperation with the German town of Nüremberg.