Youths have urged that the Lake Chad Basin be recognised as a key asset in Africa’s climate agenda.
The demand was contained in a petition submitted by Taiye Ojo on behalf of the Lake Chad Climate Justice Youth Fellowship Delegation Intercountry Youth Collective for Climate Action to the Secretariat of the Second African Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The summit, which held from Sept. 8 to Sept. 10, carried the theme “Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa’s Resilient and Green Development.”
Ojo said while ACS2 acknowledged the Congo Basin as a global climate asset with emphasis on transparent benefit-sharing, similar recognition must be extended to the Lake Chad Basin to ensure inclusiveness in Africa’s climate framework.
“On behalf of the youth delegates of Lake Chad Climate Justice Youth Fellowship, Lake Chad Basin Commission and allied organisations; we respectfully call for recognition of the Lake Chad Basin as a critical asset in Africa’s climate agenda,” he said.
He expressed dissatisfaction that the Africa Youth Climate Assembly’s submission failed to capture the interests of the Lake Chad region, despite the presence of more than 100 youth delegates from the area.
“In spite of the sacrifices and efforts of these youths to participate, their interests are either intentionally not captured or the region is considered insignificant enough to be included,” he said.
Ojo stressed that the basin’s realities could not be ignored if Africa’s climate justice agenda was to be genuinely inclusive, noting that the region is home to more than 40 million people across Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
He recalled that the Lake Chad Basin has shrunk by more than 90 per cent since the 1960s due to climate change, unsustainable resource use and poor water governance. This, he added, has triggered conflict, displacement, poverty and gender-based vulnerabilities, creating a humanitarian and security crisis closely tied to climate breakdown.
He highlighted youth-led initiatives already mobilising communities with solutions such as early warning systems and agro-ecological innovations but warned that without continental recognition and investment, these efforts risk remaining fragmented and under-resourced.
The petition urged the ACS2 secretariat to acknowledge the basin as a critical African climate hotspot alongside the Congo Basin, to commit to regional support and transparent benefit-sharing frameworks, and to ensure youth inclusion from the Lake Chad Basin in continental decision-making platforms.
“We believe the future of Africa’s climate justice must be inclusive of all critical ecosystems, and the Lake Chad Basin cannot be left behind,” Ojo said.
The basin covers about eight per cent of Africa’s landmass, spanning Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan. It is an inland basin, meaning its rivers and waters do not flow into the ocean.
The region has a diverse climate ranging from Saharan (less than 100mm annual rainfall) to Sudano-Guinean (600–1,500mm). In recent years, however, it has been confronted with ecological decline, humanitarian distress, and insecurity linked to terrorist groups.
(NAN)