Africa is facing a growing crisis as climate change is increasingly displacing millions across the continent, with experts calling for urgent action to integrate local actors into climate adaptive solutions at all levels.

Despite contributing less than 4 per cent to global emissions, Africa disproportionately suffers the devastating impacts of climate change. This situation has prompted climate experts like Lukmon Akintola to raise concerns about the marginalisation of local authorities in tackling the crisis.

Recent figures from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reveal that over 7.4 million Africans were displaced by climate-related disasters in 200, signaling a 100 per cent increase from the previous year.

Nigeria recorded 2.4 million displacements due to flooding, which caused an economic loss of $6.68 billion. Similarly, Somalia’s prolonged drought and extreme heatwaves displaced over one million people.

Akintola, the Climate Mobility Lead at the Africa Non-State Actors Platform of the GFMD/GCM , noted that the numbers highlight the urgent need to rethink how local actors are engaged in addressing these challenges.

“Despite the significant contributions of Africa’s local authorities, they are often excluded in designing and implementing national and international climate and migration policies, even when it directly affects their residents. Particularly, national and international players often overlook local governments for partnerships on policy conversations, building early warning and preparedness systems, as well as funding opportunities in the continent.

“This is not only undermining the significant role of local actors in addressing climate mobility, but it is also affecting the sustainability of national and international climate and migration policies and efforts,” he said.

Akintola in his paper titled, ‘Rethinking Local Actors’ Engagement in Global Climate Mobility Agenda’, presented at the 14th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Summit held in Geneva, Switzerland from January 23–25, 2024, insisted that local authorities, often the first responders to climate crises, play a critical role in providing relief and fostering innovative solutions.

He stressed that local actors are well-positioned to drive people-centred solutions at the local level, given their understanding of local realities.

The climate advocate argued that their exclusion from policy-making processes has resulted in a lack of access to funding opportunities, with local actors facing significant challenges in accessing resources to address climate-induced displacement and migration.

Akintola, who is a researcher and a policy advisor working at the intersection of climate change and migration , recommended that the creation of specialised funding schemes for local authorities in hotspot regions would enable local actors to invest in resilient infrastructures that can withstand climate shocks and harsh environmental conditions.

He stated, “African leaders need to prioritise urgent funding of loss and damage finance facilities and doubling adaptation finance by 2024, while also removing all the bureaucratic bottlenecks that hinder local actors and affected persons from accessing funding support for adaptive and survival purposes.

“They should create specialised funding schemes for local authorities in hotspot regions, with the purpose of investing in resilient infrastructures that would withstand climate shocks and harsh environmental conditions.”

Akintola also pointed out that global platforms like GFMD provide opportunities to integrate local actors into global discussions.

While noting that GFMD established in 2007 has been instrumental in addressing migration issues, he stressed that more must be done to include grassroots stakeholders in the conversation.

The policy advisor, however, lamented that Africa’s climate migration crisis is worsened by a lack of reliable data to guide policy decisions.

He emphasised the importance of leveraging local knowledge, which could provide valuable insights into disaster risk reduction strategies and adaptive measures.

“African governments need to prioritise significant investment in reliable, up-to-date, and accessible continental-wide and country-specific databases that present the reality of climate mobility in the continent, while also embracing both quantitative and qualitative dataset that documents the realities and voices of local actors and that of the affected persons in frontline communities.

“I strongly call for adequate investment in early warning and preparedness systems that provide valid predictions on climate mobility in the several regions of the continent.

“We need to adopt relevant technology for data collection and dissemination that will provide real-time information on weather patterns and drive timely response to anticipated climate crises, particularly in frontline communities,” he said.

According to him, urban areas, increasingly hubs for climate migrants, require innovative approaches to resource management and integration. Cities like Nairobi, Casablanca, and Johannesburg have implemented social housing projects and community-based adaptation initiatives with notable success.

Akintola highlighted these examples as proof of what can be achieved with proper support and collaboration.

He added, “At the forefront of addressing the increasing climate-induced displacement and migration are the local actors. With rural areas and urban cities transforming into hubs for climate migration , local actors – such as municipal governments and traditional rulers – are increasingly becoming the de facto players for migration governance in the continent. The local and municipal governments are playing leading roles in addressing the challenges presented by climate-induced mobility, while also directly engaging with vulnerable groups in their communities.

“Beyond providing shelter and emergency supplies for climate-displaced persons, local authorities are making safe and orderly migration a viable adaptation strategy to the climate crisis, with transit and destination cities supporting and receiving climate migrants in large numbers.”

On the way forward, Akintola stressed the importance of multi-stakeholder collaborations, including the involvement of civil society groups and traditional leaders.

“Addressing climate mobility requires a conscious multi-stakeholder approach. States and non-state actors in Africa need to collaboratively work together to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis and promote safe and orderly migration patterns in the continent.

“ Local actors need to be meaningfully engaged in policy processes, while also empowering and supporting them to advance locally anchored and people-centred solutions to address climate-induced displacement and migration,” he explained.

He further recommended, “I strongly encourage relevant stakeholders to empower government officials, civil society actors and local authorities, through investing in climate education, raising awareness, and fostering knowledge exchange among them –with a view of meaningfully equipping them with relevant thematic knowledge on the issues of climate change and human mobility pattern in the continent, as well as the GFMD processes.

“African leaders need to prioritise investment in green skills and innovation for local actors and vulnerable groups in frontline communities, with a view of promoting sustainable climate actions and locally anchored solutions to the devastating impacts of climate change, including forced displacement and unsafe migration.

“There is a need for the integration of local knowledge into modern scientific climate solutions, further advancing comprehensive mitigative and adaptive strategies to climate migration , while also promoting the relevance of traditional knowledge.

“We need to meaningfully integrate local actors – including local governments, traditional leaders, youth and women groups – in frontline communities to policy making and implementation processes on climate migration , while also allowing them to contribute to decisions that gravely affect their survival.

“We also need to establish a periodic continental-wide forum that is co-created by African member-states and civil-society actors, with a view of advancing meaningful dialogue on the trends of climate mobility in Africa, while also taking stock of the progress made in relation to the Global Compact on Migration, the Paris Agreement, the Abuja Statement, the OACPS Luanda Declaration, the EU-OACPS Samoa Declaration, among others.”

With projections from the World Bank estimating up to 86 million climate migrants in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2050 , Akintola said there is an urgent need to address climate migration.

He warned that failure to act decisively would have catastrophic consequences, adding, “climate migration is a defining issue of our time. By empowering local actors and investing in sustainable solutions, we can turn this crisis into an opportunity for resilience and innovation.”