In May, an Australian think tank called Breakthrough — National Center for Climate Restoration published a paper on risks posed by climate change. The warning was dire. The paper concludes that climate change poses a “near- to mid-term existential threat to human civilization” that could cause near total collapse by the year 2050 if serious mitigation actions aren’t taken in the next decade.
However, in the countries responsible for most of the greenhouse gases, climate change is treated as a political issue rather than the established scientific fact that it is.
In poorer parts of the world, climate change and its disastrous effects are already a reality. In low-lying countries like Senegal, rise in sea levels and unpredictable rainfalls wreak havoc on the lives and livelihoods of people who can least afford to cope.
Greta Rybus is an American photojournalist who recently undertook a multi-nation project to document climate change crisis in Senegal, Panama, Norway and the United States. I recently spoke to Rybus about her photo essay on how climate change is impacting communities on the coast of Senegal. Here is our conversation which has been edited for length and readability.
Marion Durand: Can you tell us how this climate change project started?
Greta Rybus: I work as an assignment photographer. That means that I don’t always have a lot of control over the stories that I get to tell. So in 2014, I decided that I would spend one month a year in a new place. I started with Senegal. I did some research before I went but was wary of arriving with preconceived notions about the place. It felt better to let people who lived there to tell me what was important to them. It only took me a few days to realize that climate change was the most crucial issue.
MD: What did you want to focus on while working in Senegal?
GR: In a place like Senegal, the struggle of climate change lives among other struggles — but it also exists alongside so many beautiful things. In this project, I wanted to show what I find valuable and what I hope will be protected, which is people’s connection to the land and the ability to sustain yourself. I wanted to focus on the expertise and knowledge of working people. I knew I could do all of the research I wanted, and find journals, articles, and data. But there’s something important about the stories of people who have been living and fishing in the same landscape for generations, because climate change is something we notice over time. And the people who notice are often the people that have had to quietly work hard and learn from past generations. That’s what I wanted to support and portray in this project.
MD: One of the places you’ve visited is Saint Louis, or Ndar, as the locals call it. It’s a city that’s most threatened by climate change in Africa. What did you see there? What did the locals tell you?
GR: On the day I reached there it was particularly high tide. It’s a low-lying area so it’s pretty common to see houses falling into the ocean. There are complicated safety hazards, unpredictable storms, and weather patterns that are harder to plan for. A lot of people said that fishing has become a lot more unsafe.
A lot of the fishermen are seeing weather patterns change, and thus have to change their fishing practices and go out at sea for days when they could just go for a few hours. There has been salination of the soil and as a result, a lot of farmers are not only [dealing with] lack of rains, but they’re also struggling because their soil and their wells — which are important water sources — are salty. Little changes like rain coming too early or too late, or it being a day short, means the difference between being able to sustain yourself or not.
MD: So how are the locals coping with the impact of climate change not just on their livelihoods but also on their day to day lives?
GR: In Ndar, they often have multi-family homes. There might be as many as 20 people living in a home. When one house falls in the ocean, it’s not just one family that is affected. The government has responded by building a fishermen’s village for displaced people, but the village is pretty far inland. And a lot of fishermen living on the coast don’t have cars or regular transport. So while the government has been responsive, there’s major loss of connection to the culture. For people who have lived on the coast for so long, moving inland can be culturally jarring.
MD: There is something profoundly unjust about how climate change affects communities that are least responsible for it. Did the people in Senegal talk about the unfairness of this situation that they find themselves in?
GR: Yes. There was a real understanding that this is a problem that they are feeling but that they didn’t cause. People living in poverty or living very close to land and sea will feel it first, and often those are people who are not listened to, or whose knowledge is not respected. As I continue the project in Norway and the U.S., I could sense that people living in more industrialized countries with closer relationships to oil and gas were able to mentally distance themselves from the problem. And to have economic stability or perceived economic stability I think allows people to ignore the problem.
MD: Building a global political consensus on climate change has been extremely difficult. Sadly, the everyday farmers and fishermen in places like Senegal can’t wait for political agreement from world leaders. Did you witness any locally driven solutions to the problem?
GR: There’s definitely more that’s happening. In a place like Senegal, people respond immediately because they have no choice. One thing that’s really interesting is that climate change is discussed more openly in the media in ways that I haven’t seen here in the U.S. There’s just more discussion that’s free of politics. It’s not a political conversation there, it’s just the facts.
Here in the U.S. people talk a lot about climate change, but they only talk about it at the local level. So they’ll say, “Climate change is a problem, I should ride my bike more,” for example. And that’s good; we should all walk and ride our bikes more. But I believe there’s also pressure to put on our government and industries to respond. And I see that the conversation in places like the U.S. stops at the individual level. Whereas in places like Senegal there’s an understanding of all the different tiers in which there could be a response. Which is interesting because there are fewer resources there for that response.
MD: After your travels in various places, the global south, U.S., Norway, and so on, are you hopeful or pessimistic about the issue?
GR: I am torn between the two. There are so many other issues that are intertwined with climate change like socio-economic inequality; disregard for local and indigenous knowledge; and too much corporate and industrial influence on power. Sometimes I get really excited because to be able to respond to climate change might also mean that we get to create change about all those other things that are really important and impact people’s lives.
I feel really encouraged because we’ve gone so long without really addressing those issues. And so I hope that if we are able to listen to each other and look at the things we already know about this planet and how to care for it and each other, the potential for change is really powerful. But it’s just been so slow. We make one step forward [then] make two steps backward. So I have mixed feelings about it. But I try my best to be realistically hopeful.
“Developed countries are the major greenhouse gases issuers and the main cause of climate change. In developing countries, people discuss climate change more and more because they are directly affected by its impact. The population is mainly made up of farmers, herders and fishermen, and they are the most vulnerable to climate change. Climate change is increasing poverty. It is not the only cause of the poverty, but it is accelerating it. Unfortunately, we don’t have the choice but to adapt to a phenomenon we didn’t cause.”
— Abdou Sy, climate change scientist and geographer
“In 2012–2013, the waves of the sea were very strong, strong enough to cross over the protective wall and reach up to my house. My house was flooded. I changed the gate to the other side of the home, and put sand bags on the sea facing side.”
— Baye Sarr, fishing boat captain
“When there is a delay on the rainy season or rain shortage, we get together to pray. We go pray together at the mosque near the village water tap.”
— Diarra Diop, farmer
“Of course, I have seen homes falling into the ocean. We can cope with the climate conditions in this area because we were born and brought up here. We experienced all the changes that have happened over time. We cannot live outside the coastal area. If we relocate inland we won’t be able to adapt. We are just like fish in the water.”
— Ndiawar, community leader and retired fisherman
“Over 50 years ago, we would walk about one kilometer to reach the ocean. Now, it has come near our housing area. Every year it advances, progressively and slowly, without us noticing it. Actually, that is due to rising sea level and coastal erosion from climate change, which is a phenomenon that has existed over many years. In Senegal, entire areas have been taken over by the sea. Only the scientists can explain this phenomenon. But I know that the sea level has been rising.”
— Boly Sarr, retired fishing captain
“From observation, we can predict the nature of the coming season, using our own signs through trees, insects, the sight of some animals or birds, the sky’s color, its blankness, its murkiness. Years before, it rained well, but sometimes it can be irregular. Last season we experienced misfortune. It rained only two times, just two.”
— Idda Ka, herder
