ACCRA, Ghana — The 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 said the consequences are already visible in communities facing declining agricultural productivity, retreating coastlines, flooding and lost 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.
“Climate disruption can no longer be measured only in degrees, statistics or projections,” she said. “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.”
The seminar brings together parliamentarians and experts to examine the implications of climate change and consider appropriate responses for the region.
Ibrahima said the central question was how governments and institutions could protect the dignity, security and living conditions of citizens as environmental conditions changed faster than communities could 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.
The Speaker 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 facing their constituents.
She stressed that interaction between scientific and technical knowledge and lived experience could help produce proposals 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,” she said.
“It is from this dialogue between technical knowledge and lived realities that truly useful proposals can emerge.”
Ibrahima also acknowledged Ghana’s Founder’s Day, commemorated on September 21, which coincides with the birth of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
She said the occasion 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 amid growing pressure on communities and economies to adapt to environmental changes while protecting livelihoods and building resilience.
EcowasNewsOnline.com
