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Cabo Verde - Climate

Cabo Verde is made up of ten islands and eight islets, located in the Atlantic Ocean, some 450 km west of Senegal. It has a land area of 4,033 square kilometres and a 700,000 square kilometres Economic Exclusivity Zone. The 10 islands are grouped into Windward islands (northern islands group) comprising Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau, Santa Luzia, Sal, Boa Vista, and Leeward islands (southern islands group) consisting of Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava. Cabo Verde had an estimated population of 524.832 inhabitants in 2015.

A pleasantly tropical destination, the Cape Verde islands benefit from average annual temperatures of between 26°C and 30°C. Holidays to Cape Verde offer long, uninterrupted sunshine hours and low humidity, meaning many people return time and time again. And, with higher winds between November and March, larger waves can be found on some of the islands, which proves particularly popular with water sport enthusiasts.

Cabo Verde has a dry and mild tropical climate, which is very rare. These distinctive climate conditions are caused by the position of the island far away from the West African coast, and can also be related to the cold Canary Current that passes the islands. Despite the dry conditions on the islands, there still are two seasons: the rainy season from August through November is slightly wetter and a bit warmer than the dry, windy and relative cool season from December through July. As the islands are located close to the equator, the differences between seasons is not nearly as big as in countries in Northern and Western Europe.

While the country’s contribution to global warming has been negligible, as a small island country and a dry Sahelian country with only 10% arable land area, Cabo Verde is particularly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts, ranging from extreme weather conditions to sea-level rise and the degradation of fish stocks. Changes in seasonal, weather and rain patterns are already showing. Along with a depletion of the country’s scarce natural resources, climate variability in Cabo Verde will increase leading to more storms, floods and droughts, and an ever-shorter rainy season. With 80% of total population live in coastal areas, Cabo Verde is particularly sensitive to sealevel rise and coastal hazards.

Cabo Verde is highly vulnerable to climate change and possesses a low capacity to adapt without outside assitance. Four sectors are particularly vulnerable to climate change: water, agriculture, forestry, and coastal development. Increased water salinization and drought resulting from climate change has been identified as the greatest constraint on the future prospects of economic development in Cabo Verde. Climate induced changes have so far resulted in seasonal water shortages at an increasing number of economically important sites and year round shortages at others. In addition, future climate variability is expected to increase, with more storms, floods, droughts, and a shorter rainy season.

Today’s economy is mainly shaped by the tertiary sector (almost 70% of GDP), with the tourism industry already representing about 30% of GDP. The industry expects robust growth rates, from half a million tourists in 2013 to one million tourists per year by 2020. While a welcome boost to the economy, this development will increase the pressure on the country’s fragile ecosystem and resources.

At the domestic level, Cabo Verde has laid the relevant groundwork to achieve energy independence on 100% renewable sources, integrate highest levels of water-efficiency and resilience to climate change, operate a fully sustainable economy and a sustainable tourism infrastructure, and work towards building what Cabo Verde has always carried in its name: a truly green island state.