Environmental advocates from across West Africa have called on developed nations to match their military spending with equivalent investments in climate justice, particularly for vulnerable regions like Africa already facing severe climate impacts.
The demand was made during the West Africa Climate Justice Roundtable held Tuesday in Abuja, where speakers emphasized the need for collective regional action and a unified voice ahead of global climate negotiations.
Nnimmo Bassey, Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), criticized the imbalance in global priorities, stating that wealthy nations spent $2.7 trillion on warfare in 2024—resources he said should instead be directed as climate reparations to the Global South.
“Climate debt per year can be equated to how much money they’re spending on warfare and destruction,” Bassey said. “This is what justice demands.”
Speaking on the theme “Linking Challenges and Creating Connections: Building a Regional Climate Movement in West Africa,” Bassey described climate change as the most pressing crisis facing the region, with rising temperatures already outpacing global averages and threatening sectors like agriculture, health, water, security, and migration.
He lamented the failure of African policymakers to effectively respond, accusing them of adopting foreign-driven, untested solutions such as GMOs, carbon markets, and geoengineering projects. “West Africa has been turned into a laboratory for failed and dangerous experiments,” he said.
Bassey emphasized that climate justice must be community-led, inclusive, and rooted in local realities. “Those most affected must shape the solutions. That includes protecting forests, water bodies, and communities from extractive industries and destructive mega-projects.”
He called for a shift toward transformative economies built on agroecology, food sovereignty, clean energy, and just transitions—measures that he said would not only mitigate climate impacts but also foster equity and self-reliance.
The West Africa Climate Justice Movement, he said, is working to build solidarity across the region by bringing together civil society groups, academics, campaigners, and frontline communities. Their shared goal is to strengthen grassroots voices, develop regional strategies, and present a united climate resolution at the upcoming COP30 summit.
The Abuja roundtable builds on previous engagements held from 2021 to 2024, and one of its key outcomes will be the adoption of a common West Africa Climate Change Resolution to serve as the region’s unified demand in global climate discussions.
