The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Madam Hadja Mémounatou Ibrahima, has urged lawmakers across West Africa to place the experiences of communities affected by climate change at the centre of regional policy responses.
She said climate disruption was no longer an abstract environmental issue but one increasingly affecting livelihoods, housing, food production, security and population movements across the region.
Madam Ibrahima made the call on Monday in Accra at the opening of the Second Parliamentary Seminar of the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament.
The seven-day seminar, being held from September 21 to 27, 2026, is on the theme: “Climate Change as a Driver of Environmental Degradation, Population Displacement and Growing Insecurity in the ECOWAS Region.”
The Speaker said the impact of climate change should be understood beyond statistics and scientific projections.
“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.
She said the growing effects of climate disruption raised fundamental questions about how governments and regional institutions could protect the dignity, livelihoods and security of populations whose environments were changing faster than their ability to adapt.
MPs urged to connect policy with communities
Madam Ibrahima challenged parliamentarians to combine technical knowledge with the experiences of people in their constituencies when developing responses to climate-related challenges.
She said the seminar should not simply repeat existing knowledge but should help lawmakers better understand the realities confronting communities and identify practical interventions.
“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 discussions are expected to focus on the relationship between climate change, environmental degradation, displacement and insecurity, as ECOWAS countries seek to strengthen their resilience to climate-related shocks.
Extraordinary session opening moved
The Speaker also announced a change to the programme for the ECOWAS Parliament’s extraordinary session.
The joint solemn opening of the extraordinary session and the parliamentary seminar, originally scheduled for Monday, September 21, will instead take place on Tuesday, September 22.
Madam Ibrahima said the adjustment should not delay substantive work on the issues before the Parliament.
“Tomorrow we will have time for solemnity. Today, let us choose substance, listening and work,” she told participants.
Nkrumah honoured
The Speaker also used the occasion to acknowledge Ghana’s celebration of Founder’s Day and paid tribute to Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first Prime Minister and later President.
She said September 21 held particular significance for Ghana and recalled Nkrumah’s contribution to the country’s independence and his wider vision for African unity.
“The 21st of September carries special resonance in Ghana… we cannot let this occasion pass without recalling the man whose fight for Ghana’s independence was inseparable from a far greater ambition: that of a free, united Africa,” she said.
She subsequently invited Members of Parliament and other participants to observe a minute of silence in memory of the late former President.
