Advocates have warned that a number of coastal communities in Nigeria could cease to exist by 2050 if environmental protections aren't made a priority, urging the government to take action and stakeholders to come together.
What's happening?
The alarming predictions were issued at a late-April event organized by nonprofit Academic Associates PeaceWorks in the Niger Delta region, where rising sea levels and chronic flooding pose significant threats, according to The Guardian (Nigeria).
During the workshop, a focus of which was social conflict in coastal communities, participants said affected areas could be under water within the next 25 years if environmental laws already on the books are not enforced.
Nimi Elele, a representative from the Rivers State Ministry of Environment's Climate Change Desk, shared that "fishing yields have also dropped significantly, pushing many coastal dwellers into poverty and hunger."
The global average sea level has increased by 8 to 9 inches in the last century and a half, according to a 2023 report from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The government agency has said the warming climate is causing glaciers and ice sheets to melt, contributing to higher sea levels.
Scientists confirmed that 2024 was Earth's warmest year on record. Meanwhile, human activities are responsible for most of the heat-trapping pollution entering the atmosphere. In fact, the United Nations reported that burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas accounts for more than 75% of greenhouse gases worldwide.
Why is this important?
Leading voices at the Niger Delta workshop highlighted the connections linking extreme weather events like major floods with resource depletion and human rights abuses.
AAPW deputy director Nkoyo Toyo was among those voices. "When people are displaced and resources become scarce, tensions rise," she said. "You cannot address conflict without addressing environmental and climate issues; they are interconnected."
They are compounding too. Communities vulnerable to rising sea levels and repeated floods can face the most immediate danger, with residents often forced to leave their homes. But this can put neighboring areas in jeopardy as well, as displacement can strain clean water access, food supplies, housing, and medical systems.
Elele noted that "severe flooding … damages infrastructure and forces people to migrate inland, increasing social risks such as child molestation and sexual abuse," pointing to the disproportionate impacts of disaster on marginalized populations, including women and children.
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Often 😇 Scientists are concerned about the collapse of coastal communities around the world. Researchers have observed that rising sea levels are exacerbating similar issues from New Zealand to New Orleans in the U.S.
What can be done?
The Guardian reported that workshop participants from at least five Nigerian states "pleaded for immediate government intervention" to address these coastal threats. Noting that some "grassroots efforts … are increasingly undermined by external actors," governmental enforcement of environmental protection laws already on the books could be key.
Some participants also surfaced the 2021 Petroleum Industry Act as a potential mechanism for strengthening investments in disaster mitigation for affected areas.
While conflict and the climate crisis are interconnected, so too may be the strategies for addressing their adverse effects.
The Guardian reported that Toyo called on stakeholders to collaborate on "a holistic approach to environmental enforcement, involving community leaders, policymakers, and security agencies." And after the workshop, the AAPW shared that one result of the gathering was a call to stand up a Coastal Communities Advocacy Network in support of coordination in the region.
Working together at the local level can be an effective method for addressing extreme weather threats and for organizing the conservation projects that might reduce them. Neighbors can be ideal collaborators when it comes to disaster preparedness, possessing local knowledge of risks and routes to safety. They can also rally around initiatives close to home, like community solar programs, or get together to talk about the issues that matter most in their area.
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