Senegal: The Establishment of a Regional Environmental Trailblazer. A constructivist approach to the factors behind the State of Senegal’s climate change policies.

Abstract

The study of International Relations has historically paid little attention to how states in the Global South use environmental policies to assert their leadership regionally and globally. My thesis addresses this lack by examining the intricacies of Senegal’s longstanding environmental policy history - including its role in the pan-African Great Green Wall project - as a way of revealing those ideas that determined the interest formation process of Senegal’s actions towards climate breakdown. In pursuit of this I used primary source material, including government policies and other communications, as well as secondary sources. International Relations theory was additionally applied to the study with the conclusion that a constructivist approach was the most appropriate theoretical approach. My findings led me to conclude that Senegal sees itself as a trailblazer in environmental change and stability in the region, and that this is an important way for the state to maintain the relative peace of the post-colonial era. The study aims to contribute to the discourse on International Relations in an African context and hopes to add to an understanding of the field as it applies to the Global South.