Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Hadja Mémounatou Ibrahima has called for practical, people-centred responses to climate change, warning that its effects are increasingly being felt in livelihoods, communities and living conditions across West Africa.
She warned that the consequences of the climate phenomenon are already visible in communities facing declining agricultural productivity, retreating coastlines, flooding and the loss of livelihoods.
Speaking in Accra on Monday, September 21, 2026, at the opening of the second Parliamentary Seminar of the year, the Speaker of the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament said climate disruption could no longer be viewed merely through statistics, temperature measurements and projections.
Also read: Don’t collapse the cocoa sector – Annoh-Dompreh warns NDC government
“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,” Hadja Mémounatou Ibrahima said.
The seminar brings together parliamentarians and experts to examine the implications of climate change and consider appropriate responses for the region.
The ECOWAS Parliament Speaker said the central question is how governments and institutions could protect the dignity, security and living conditions of citizens as environmental conditions changed faster than communities’ ability to adapt.
She urged participants to use the seminar to move beyond repeating well-known climate concerns and instead focus on understanding the specific challenges confronting communities across ECOWAS member states.
“Our responsibility during this Seminar will be 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.
Hadja Mémounatou Ibrahima said the technical expertise presented during the seminar should be combined with the practical experiences of parliamentarians, who regularly engage with communities and understand the challenges confronting their constituents.
She stressed that interaction between scientific and technical knowledge and lived experiences could help produce proposals that are relevant to the region’s needs.
“The expertise that will be shared with us should inform our discussions. But it must also meet the experience of parliamentarians, 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 ECOWAS Parliament Speaker also used the occasion to acknowledge Ghana’s Founder’s Day, which is commemorated on September 21 and coincides with the birth of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
The occasion, she said, carries special significance because of Nkrumah’s vision of Ghanaian independence and a united Africa capable of determining its own future.
The seminar is expected to provide a platform for exchanging expertise and parliamentary perspectives on climate disruption and its implications for ECOWAS member states.
For West African lawmakers, the discussions come against a backdrop of growing pressure on communities and economies to adapt to environmental changes while protecting livelihoods and improving resilience.