Guinea Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

deforestation; inadequate potable water; desertification; soil contamination and erosion; overfishing, overpopulation in forest region; poor mining practices lead to environmental damage; water pollution; improper waste disposal

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds

Land use

agricultural land: 58.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 11.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 2.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 43.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 26.5% (2018 est.)

other: 15.4% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 38.1% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Food insecurity

severe localized food insecurity:due to reduced incomes - about 1.22 million people are projected to be in need of food assistance between June and August 2022, primarily due to food access constraints on account of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (2022)

Revenue from forest resources

4.81% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 37.57 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 3 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 11.13 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 596,911 tons (1996 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 29,846 tons (2005 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 5% (2005 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Niger river source (shared with Mali, and Nigeria [m]) - 4,200 km; Gambie (Gambia) river source (shared with Senegal and The Gambia [m]) - 1,094 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Niger (2,261,741 sq km), Senegal (456,397 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 230 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 60 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 600 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

226 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)