By Faridat Salifu
Media professionals, researchers, and policy advocates have called for stronger collaboration between journalists, civil society groups, and environmental governance institutions to expose and address climate-related environmental crimes across West Africa.
This call was made during a one-day stakeholder dialogue hosted on Tuesday, July 16, 2025, in Abuja by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) under its Open Climate Reporting Initiative (OCRI).
Participants at the meeting examined how cross-border environmental crimes—such as illegal mining, deforestation, land grabs, and illicit trade in critical minerals—are fueling climate vulnerability and human rights violations, particularly in the Sahel and coastal regions of West Africa.
Dr. Chukwueloka Udechukwu Okeke, a Nigerian academic and co-author of a new CJID policy report launched at the event, said that extractive operations linked to critical minerals like lithium and cobalt were increasingly threatening land tenure systems, biodiversity, and local livelihoods in climate-vulnerable areas.
He noted that as global demand for clean energy accelerates, many African countries are now under pressure to increase mineral exports without adequate safeguards to protect people and ecosystems.
Dr. Okeke warned that these extractive activities often go underreported in the media, despite their link to land conflicts, displacement, and the criminal exploitation of resources by both foreign and local actors.
He urged journalists and media development organisations to deepen investigations that trace the climate and human rights consequences of mineral exploitation, especially in areas with weak governance and limited transparency.
Mohammed D. Aminu, Nigeria’s focal person on beneficial ownership for the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), said that greater oversight and disclosure of corporate structures involved in mining were crucial to deterring illicit financial flows and securing community benefits.
He emphasized that robust beneficial ownership frameworks can play a critical role in ensuring that resource exploitation does not replicate the inequities of the fossil fuel era, where host communities bore the brunt of pollution and underdevelopment.
Aminu stressed that transparency laws must be enforced alongside regional data-sharing mechanisms to hold international firms accountable and prevent tax evasion and transfer pricing abuses across borders.
Jiriko N. Gajere, who represented the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, highlighted that mineral extraction for global energy transitions must be guided by environmental impact assessments, community engagement, and enforcement of mining codes.
He said Nigeria and other African countries must avoid repeating the mistakes of extractive dependency and environmental neglect seen during oil and gas booms.
According to Gajere, effective land governance and licensing transparency are essential to ensuring that communities are not displaced or exploited in the rush for green minerals.
He called for reforms that prioritize environmental sustainability, equitable benefit sharing, and stronger penalties for non-compliance.
Gideon Ofosu-Peasah, a Ghanaian climate policy analyst, said West Africa cannot confront the climate crisis without cross-border environmental journalism that traces supply chains, highlights regional vulnerabilities, and informs policy debate.
He observed that national media often fail to cover the transnational dimensions of environmental crime, especially in areas affected by cross-border mining operations, illegal logging, and coastal degradation.
Ofosu-Peasah encouraged media and civil society groups to pool resources for collaborative investigations, data journalism, and follow-the-money reporting that expose how climate injustices are interconnected across borders.
He added that the region’s shared ecosystems and migratory patterns demand shared media responses, particularly in cases where enforcement is weak or politicized.
Nikolas B. Adeneyi, Programme Officer for Climate Change at CJID, said the Open Climate Reporting Initiative (OCRI) was established to address these gaps by equipping West African journalists with tools and support to report on climate governance and environmental justice issues.
He revealed that 13 investigative journalists from Nigeria, Ghana, and The Gambia have so far received grants and mentorship to produce original stories under OCRI, covering themes such as illegal deforestation, artisanal mining, oil pollution, and coastal ecosystem loss.
Adeneyi said that these stories have contributed to ongoing advocacy around extractive reform and have sparked discussions with regulators and civil society actors.
He said the initiative is also fostering capacity building, regional networks, and public-interest storytelling that reflect local realities and amplify underreported voices.
The Abuja dialogue brought together stakeholders from across media, academia, government agencies, and international development partners.
It forms part of CJID’s broader effort to promote environmental accountability, support evidence-based journalism, and shape public discourse around climate justice in West Africa.
OCRI is supported by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and other international partners working to advance climate transparency and environmental rights across the region.