Country Environmental Profile (CEP) for South Sudan

Country Environmental Profile of South Sudan: A Path to Sustainable Natural Resource Management for Peace and Self-reliance in the Country

The elaboration of the CEP was commissioned by EUD in June 2021 with the aim of identifying and assessing key environmental and climate change issues facing South Sudan. The document aims to represent a good baseline information for decision makers and will focus and guide political dialogue and cooperation between South Sudan and the European Union to specific key areas of concern. 

The CEP reviews the South Sudan’s national context and acknowledges that the country indeed has an abundance of natural resources, including fertile soils, water including river Nile, oil, forests, wetlands, wildlife, minerals such as gold, copper, etc. The document agrees with several of the published reports on South Sudan that despite its wealth of natural resources, years of conflict have left South Sudan as one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. The document notes that the prolonged past conflicts in the country have undermined traditional social structures and community coping mechanisms. It also explicitly states that the institutional ability of the country to sustainably manage and develop its natural resources is disrupted and that the on-going communal competition over access to environmental resources if not addressed could continue to exacerbate conflicts and forced migration. 

The CEP also reviews and analyses the socioeconomic and natural drivers of environmental change; provides recommendations for addressing climate change impacts and natural hazards; and analyses pressures and policies actions related to agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, water resources, waste management, energy and petroleum, etc. Its adequately reviews and highlights environmental issues such as droughts, floods, pollution, deforestation and conflicts could worsen South Sudan’s humanitarian crisis and threaten the livelihoods of million of South Sudanese people.

The CEP concludes that the conservation status of the ecosystems and animal and plant species is extremely poor, with few threatened species adequately conserved under the current system. The document agrees with several other publications that pollution from extractive industries, deforestation due to unregulated charcoal production and construction, inadequately controlled and illegal extraction of natural resources such as timber, ivory and bushmeat that was experienced during extended civil war is rampant and on-going.

In order to improve the country’s prospects for peace and stability, the document recommends improving: natural and environmental resource governance and sustainability; accountability; community participation; mechanisms for dispute resolution, reduced competition for resources and improved transboundary resource management; land tenure issues and land management; and wealth-sharing arrangements among conflicting parties to build peace.

The document also recommends that South Sudan, should improve floods management and internal migration; develop the agriculture and fisheries sectors; develop relevant livelihoods sectors to create income-generating activities and employment; attract investments for infrastructure financing and tourism; develop policy and legislative frameworks and strengthen institutional capacity for natural resource development, management and conservation; establish enforcement mechanisms for protecting wetlands, forests and wildlife; and increase climate resilience.

This CEP was developed to directly influence and advance a green and resilient economy (including issues such as food security, jobs for youth, diversification of the economy, climate change, and natural resources management) which is one of the three priority sectors for the EU cooperation with South Sudan for the 2021-27 period. The process of preparation included, among others, individual and focus group meetings with the key stakeholders in Central Equatoria, Juba, field visits to four (4) selected states (Eastern Equatoria, Yambio, Jonglei, and Northern Bahr el Ghazal), and an inception workshop.