ECOWAS Parliament Demands Urgent Climate Action in West Africa

The ECOWAS Parliament has called for urgent action to stem the tide of climate change and its ravaging effects across the West African sub-region.

Speaker Mémounatou Ibrahima made the appeal at the Parliament's 2026 Second Extraordinary Session Seminar, held on Monday in Accra, Ghana.

The event is themed "Focusing on Climate Change, Environmental Degradation, Population Displacement and Growing Insecurity in the ECOWAS Region."

Climate Change Fuelling Displacement and Insecurity

Ibrahima warned that climate change is increasingly fuelling displacement and insecurity, as environmental disruption continues to affect livelihoods, communities, and the safety of populations across West Africa. She stressed that the effects of climate disruption can no longer be understood merely through statistics or scientific projections, as communities are already living through its consequences firsthand.

The speaker called for practical, people-centred responses to the growing impact of climate change. "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. "Behind the climate question lies a profoundly human one: how do we protect the living conditions, dignity and security of our populations when their environment is changing faster than their capacity to adapt to it?"

Bridging Technical Knowledge with Lived Realities

According to Ibrahima, it falls to regional parliamentarians to connect technical expertise with the realities experienced by their constituents. She said the knowledge shared during the seminar would prove valuable, but stressed that it must be combined with the lived experiences of lawmakers, who remain closely connected to their communities.

"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. The expertise that will be shared with us should inform our discussions. But it must also meet the experience of parliamentarian, who remain in close contact with their territories and their people. It is from this dialogue between technical knowledge and lived realities that truly useful proposals can emerge," she said.

The seminar forms part of the activities of the Parliament's Sixth Legislature, bringing regional lawmakers together to examine the interconnected challenges facing communities across the sub-region. Alongside experts and other stakeholders, parliamentarians are expected to explore how climate change and environmental degradation contribute to population movements and insecurity, with a view to triggering coordinated regional responses.