Introduction
Impacts of climate change in West Africa will be severe in both the 1.5 degrees and 2.0 degrees Celsius temperature target scenarios.[i] It is also projected that the West and Central Africa regions will see a high number of hot days[ii] within each of these scenarios. At present there are movements in the sub-region focused on mobilizing on the symptoms of the crisis without an overall umbrella to bring these trends together holistically. There are active movements on aspects of agriculture and food production – especially with regard to food sovereignty. There are also concerted efforts at national and regional levels on deforestation and desertification. Although there are climate justice (CJ) activist groups from the West African region that are active in continental movements on climate justice, the overall focus is not weighted towards the critical concerns of the region. This is problematic considering the fact that the region is experiencing rapid population growth estimated at 2.8% per year, and is an environment of shrinking natural resources, including land and water resources.[iii]
It must be emphasized that it is critical to build Pan African platforms that help to interrogate climate justice concerns in the continent and also galvanize constituent groups for action. While that is being done, the need to build sub regional groupings must not be overlooked. This is important because:
- Each region has peculiarities in terms of climate impacts and vulnerabilities. The West African region largely depends on rain-fed agriculture and has less irrigation systems.
- Each region has peculiar climate responses rooted in local knowledge and circumstances. These endogenous solutions are routinely overlooked in official circles where attention is focused largely on externally generated ideas.
- Each region has a formal geopolitical block[iv] (ECOWAS, SADC/COMESA, EAC, ECCAS and UMA) that provide platforms for advocacy in a way that is closer to the grassroots and from where these can be elevated to the centre (Africa Union)
Moreover, language barriers and travel difficulties often limit access to continental meetings in an equitable manner in terms of participation. Having a West African Climate Justice Movement (WACMo) will definitely enhance the critical study of the situation and mobilisation of responses in the region.
Critical Climate Concerns in West Africa
The severe impacts of climate change in the West Africa region are exacerbated by the dominant weather dependent economic activities including agriculture. Major impacts include:
- Desertification - There is land stress in the upper Sahelian region of West Africa due to desertification. As is the experience in some parts of the region, desertification is a process that is caused by interactions between drought and human mismanagement of environmental resources.[v] This is one area in which a regional CJ movement can play a pivotal part in promoting solutions that already exist but are not upscaled.
- Deforestation - This has been a problem both in the rainforest belt and in the Sahel. In recent times there have been reports of deforestation targeted at protected tree species such as the Rosewood which is of high value in China. There have also been major campaigns in Liberia and Nigeria on deforestation that could have been good anchors for a climate justice movement. In Liberia[vi] the campaigns included aspects related to carbon trading, while in Nigeria one campaign was against a proposed 275km superhighway[vii] that would have ripped through pristine rainforest in the south eastern part of the country. Generally, deforestation has meant loss of habitat and biodiversity, loss of livelihoods and exposure of lands to gully erosion.
- Flooding - This is correlated with the increasingly changing rainfall patterns in the region.[viii] Lack of adequate adaptation and mitigation measures, as well as overall human vulnerability and disastrous flooding continue to be recorded here. These floods spread across the eco-zones of the region and have resulted in unprecedented destruction of lives, properties, livelihoods and food production systems of vulnerable people living within there.
- Coastal erosion - The Atlantic coastline of West Africa is an area of high population concentration. Several major towns like Dakar, Accra, Lagos, etc are found on the coastline. The same is the case with industrial infrastructure. Sea level rise and natural subsidence of places such as the Niger Delta compound the problems of coastal erosion in the zone. Research shows that, for the Niger Delta region, with a net sea level rise of 1 metre, up to 80km inland will be flooded.
- Climate induced migration and conflicts- Climate induced migration in West Africa is both internal and external. The internal migrations are noticed across the Sahel as well as within countries like Nigeria. These migrations have led to violent conflicts and loss of thousands of lives. In addition, the massive loss of life in the Mediterranean Sea as youths flee economic pressures compounded by climate change has become a sore issue that is either ignored or not linked to climate change. A regional movement on climate change will be the right space to make this a major issue so that the victims can be recognised as climate refugees and accorded some support and a level of dignity.
- Droughts - Changes in greenhouse gas emissions can cause severe rainfall that result in floods or less rainfall that result in droughts. West Africa has suffered from severe droughts and there are possibilities of having more in the future and with devastating impacts (such as deaths resulting from famine as witnessed in countries like Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania in the past) unless adequate climate actions are taken to build resilience. Droughts and desertification are environmental stressors that provide the base for violent struggles for access to limited resources.
- Water stress - The most prominent example of drying water bodies on the continent is the situation in Lake Chad. Coupled with drying of rivers and invasive species, the region is prone to water stress and has already seen the migration of pastoralists and resultant conflicts due to this pressure.
What a movement would do
There is an urgent need for a West African regional climate justice movement to highlight the challenges in the region as well as to harness existing energies and solutions. It should be a body that draws membership from a broad base of individuals, organisations, networks and other related movements.
- Such a movement will ensure that the voices of the people are heard from the grassroots up to policy levels.
- National climate policies would be better interrogated before being adopted
- Activist academics and researchers will have a platform for deep political analysis of the false solutions presented in official national/global circles, but which abridge the rights of the peoples.
- The climate justice movement will provide a space for debates on economic and developmental issues that negate the rights of Nature and promote actions that increase vulnerability to climate impacts.
- Plug the huge gap in continental movements where West Africa is not vigorously represented or heard.
Now is the time for an intentional support for the building of a climate justice movement in West Africa that is fully plugged into the continental movement.
Notes
[i] Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla, et al (2018). Climate Change to severely impact West African Basin scale irrigation in 2oC and 1.5oC global warming scenarios. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32736-0
[ii] Dan Shephad.(2019). Global Warming: Severe Consequences for Africa.https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2018-march-2019/global-warming-severe-consequences-africa
[iii] Ibid
[iv] Bryce Byiers (2017). Regional organisations in Africa – Mapping multiple memberships https://ecdpm.org/talking-points/regional-organisations-africa-mapping-multiple-memberships/
[v] Jean Gorse. Desertification in the Sahelian and Sudanian Zones in West Africa. http://www.fao.org/3/r5265E/r5265e02.htm
[vi] Ryan Jacobs. 2013. The Forest Mafia: How Scammers Steal Millions Through carbon markets. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/10/the-forest-mafia-how-scammers-steal-millions-through-carbon-markets/280419/
[vii] HOMEF. 2017. One Hard to Travel Superhighway. https://homef.org/2017/06/18/one-hard-to-travel-superhighway/
[viii] Nana Ama Browne Kluste, et al (2018). Potential impact of 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming on consecutive dry and wet days over West Africa https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aab37b/meta
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