KEY POINTS
• ECOWAS Parliament has called for urgent measures to address climate change and environmental degradation in West Africa.
• Speaker Mémounatou Ibrahima linked climate disruption to livelihood losses, displacement and insecurity across the region.
• Lawmakers and experts are examining regional responses to the interconnected challenges.
MAIN STORY
The ECOWAS Parliament has called for urgent and practical measures to address the growing effects of climate change and environmental degradation across West Africa.
Speaker Mémounatou Ibrahima made the call on Monday in Accra, Ghana, at the Parliament’s 2026 Second Extraordinary Session Seminar.
The seminar, themed “Focusing on Climate Change, Environmental Degradation, Population Displacement and Growing Insecurity in the ECOWAS Region,” is examining the links between environmental changes, population movements and insecurity.
Ibrahima said climate change was increasingly affecting livelihoods and communities while creating additional security challenges for populations across the sub region.
She said the consequences of environmental disruption were already being experienced by communities and should no longer be considered only through scientific projections and statistical measurements.
“Climate disruption can no longer be measured only in degrees, statistics or projections. It is read in land that yields less, in coastlines that retreat, in flooded neighbourhoods, in families losing their livelihoods, and in communities forced to relocate,” she said.
The Speaker called for responses that focus on the people affected by environmental changes and address the practical challenges facing communities.
She said regional parliamentarians had a responsibility to connect scientific and technical knowledge with the experiences of the communities they represented.
According to her, the expertise presented at the seminar would be useful only when considered alongside the experiences of lawmakers who remained closely connected to their constituencies.
“Our responsibility during this seminar is precisely to connect these realities, not to restate here what we already know, but to better understand what is at stake in our territories and to consider the most appropriate responses,” she said.
Ibrahima said dialogue between technical experts and lawmakers could help produce proposals that respond more effectively to conditions in communities across the region.
The seminar forms part of activities of the Parliament’s Sixth Legislature, which brings regional lawmakers together to examine interconnected challenges affecting communities in ECOWAS member states.
Lawmakers, experts and other stakeholders are expected to examine how climate change and environmental degradation contribute to population displacement and insecurity and consider possible regional responses.
THE ISSUES
- Climate change is increasingly being considered alongside population movement and security because environmental disruption can affect livelihoods and living conditions in communities.
- The Parliament is seeking to connect technical expertise with information from lawmakers who have direct knowledge of conditions in their constituencies.
- The regional nature of environmental challenges means that climate related displacement and insecurity can extend beyond individual communities and require cooperation among ECOWAS member states.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
“Climate disruption can no longer be measured only in degrees, statistics or projections. It is read in land that yields less, in coastlines that retreat, in flooded neighbourhoods, in families losing their livelihoods, and in communities forced to relocate.” – Mémounatou Ibrahima, Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament
“Our responsibility during this seminar is precisely to connect these realities, not to restate here what we already know, but to better understand what is at stake in our territories and to consider the most appropriate responses.” – Mémounatou Ibrahima, Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament
“It is from this dialogue between technical knowledge and lived realities that truly useful proposals can emerge.” – Mémounatou Ibrahima, Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament
WHAT’S NEXT
ECOWAS lawmakers, experts and other stakeholders are expected to use the seminar to examine the links between climate change, environmental degradation, population movements and insecurity and develop regional responses.
BOTTOM LINE
The ECOWAS Parliament is treating climate change and environmental degradation as issues with implications for livelihoods, population movement and regional security. Its seminar is focused on connecting technical expertise with the experiences of affected communities to inform regional responses.
