{"id":129550,"date":"2026-09-20T12:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=129550"},"modified":"2026-09-20T12:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:14:20","slug":"ecowas-lawmaker-links-environmental-destruction-to-insecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ecowas-lawmaker-links-environmental-destruction-to-insecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"ECOWAS Lawmaker Links Environmental Destruction to Insecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>By Lizzy Chirkpi<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A Guinea-Bissau lawmaker at the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Manuel Nascimento Lopes, has warned that failure to protect the environment could expose future generations across West Africa to worsening flooding, displacement and insecurity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nascimento Lopes spoke as the ECOWAS Parliament prepares to hold its second parliamentary seminar of 2026 in Accra, Ghana, where lawmakers are expected to examine the growing links between climate change, environmental degradation, population displacement and insecurity in the region.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The seminar is themed:\u00a0<strong>\u201cClimate Change, a Factor in Environmental Degradation, Displacement of Populations and Increasing Insecurity in the ECOWAS Space.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Guinea-Bissau legislator said West African countries must move beyond reacting to environmental disasters and develop a culture of environmental protection, particularly among younger generations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe need to protect our environment as Africans, as West Africans. We need to give exemplary ideas to the younger generation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nascimento Lopes spoke after an ad hoc committee meeting of the Parliament considered the preliminary budget review for 2026 and the annual draft work plan for 2027.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He said the Parliament\u2019s decision to focus on environmental degradation was timely, given the increasing impact of flooding and other extreme weather events on communities across the region.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The lawmaker said environmental protection should not be treated solely as the responsibility of governments, stressing the need to educate young people from an early age and make environmental preservation part of their daily lives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIf we do not teach them how to preserve our environment, it will be very difficult for them to inculcate that as their way of life,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He also expressed concern over activities that degrade land and other natural resources, warning that continued environmental destruction could increase the vulnerability of communities across West Africa.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to him, the consequences are already evident in communities affected by flooding, with houses submerged and residents displaced.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat will happen to us in the next 10 to 20 years? We see houses submerging and flooding all around,\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He therefore urged ECOWAS member states to make environmental protection a long-term regional priority and strengthen preventive measures rather than waiting for disasters to occur before responding.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Accra seminar is expected to bring lawmakers together to examine how climate change and environmental degradation are contributing to population displacement and insecurity, as well as explore possible regional responses to the challenges.<\/p>\n<div id=\"yiv5043636164ymail_android_signature\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lizzy Chirkpi A Guinea-Bissau lawmaker at the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Manuel Nascimento Lopes, has warned that failure to protect the environment could expose future generations across West Africa to&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ECOWAS Lawmaker Links Environmental Destruction to Insecurity - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ecowas-lawmaker-links-environmental-destruction-to-insecurity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ECOWAS Lawmaker Links Environmental Destruction to Insecurity - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lizzy Chirkpi A Guinea-Bissau lawmaker at the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. 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