Climate-Induced Insecurities and The ECOWAS Initiatives: Implications for Regional Goals 1991-2021

Abstract

ECOWAS is a regional organization established in West Africa on May 28, 1975 with the objective of encouraging regional integration and economic cooperation to ensure mutual growth and development among member states. Since its inception, it has involved in humanitarian interventions in some of its crises-ridden member states. However, the sustenance of the success has recently met with serious challenges through the evolution of climate-induced insecurities in the region. Studies indicate that the turbulent nature of such security challenges caused by climate change seems to be overwhelming the ECOWAS. The fact is that the evolving climate-induced conflicts in West Africa largely relate to quest for survival requiring more of econometric and meteorological actions than political solutions to which the ECOWAS, apparently lacks the technical know-how to combat. It is against the backcloth of the stated problematic that this paper sets focus on climate-induced insecurities and ECOWAS initiatives by evaluating the current implications of the weather-related conflicts for West African regional cooperation and integration. Nevertheless, the main idea inherent in the evaluation tends to posit that although the regional organ faces tremendous and unprecedented challenges posed by these climatic insecurities against its original goals, reluctance on the part of the governments of the member-states to adhere to the fundamental principles of the region, further implies that there is little hopes for impactful regional cooperation, integration and development if the outlined plans are not vigorously pursued to achieve the anticipated prospects which is the only way forward. The paper adopted the qualitative and historical analytical research methods.