WISE: Nigerian women shaping climate justiceCEFR B2
28 Nov 2025
Adapted from Zita Zage, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Muhammad-Taha Ibrahim, Unsplash
The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) concluded in Brazil. While several African countries sent large official delegations, the Women Initiative for Sustainable Development (WISE) was not present. WISE nonetheless remains active in Nigeria, promoting feminist demands, community-driven solutions and principles of care and solidarity in climate decision-making.
WISE was founded by Olanike Olugboji-Daramola, who is a conservationist, climate justice actor, women’s empowerment advocate, citizen journalist and public speaker. She also serves as Women’s Earth Alliance’s Nigeria Project Lead and as a correspondent for World Pulse; her writing has appeared in Time Magazine. WISE began as the Environmental Management and Protection Network (EMPRONET) in 2004 and became a legally registered nonprofit in 2009. The organisation says it has directly impacted over 150,000 women at the grassroots through its programmes.
WISE organised a Pre-COP28 awareness rally in Kaduna with funding from the Global Fund for Women and ran events under the Nigerian Resistance Hub for Climate Justice with the theme “COP Missing Voices.” On November 21 it held a book reading and small-group discussions that focused on floods and their effects on rural women farmers. Participants described burdens and proposed concrete recommendations for communities and policymakers.
- Loss of property and livelihoods
- Forced migration and displacement
- Emotional and psychological trauma
- Financial loss and indebtedness
- Increased disease exposure
- Disruption of family stability and food security
Recommendations included improved drainage and waste management, community advocacy, compensation mechanisms, tree planting and stricter laws against illegal tree felling. Participants also suggested dams and flood-control structures, training for women and education about insurance to reduce financial shocks. WISE led farm visits where farmers reported repeated crop loss and shared adaptation ideas, access to finance concerns, and proposals for sustainable agriculture. The National Action Plan on Gender and Climate Change, launched in 2020, aims to make climate policies more inclusive, and WISE supporters hope the hub’s recommendations will inform policy and improve resilience for women in Nigeria.
Difficult words
- delegation — a group sent officially to represent a countrydelegations
- solidarity — mutual support among people or groups
- conservationist — person who works to protect nature and wildlife
- grassroots — from ordinary local community members
- displacement — forced movement away from home or land
- indebtedness — state of owing money to others
- resilience — ability to recover after hardship or shocks
- advocacy — public support for policies or causes
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How might community-driven solutions and principles of care improve women's resilience to floods in Nigeria? Give examples from the article or your own ideas.
- Which of the recommended actions (for example, improved drainage, compensation, training, tree planting) do you think would be most effective locally, and why?
- What challenges could WISE face when trying to make the hub's recommendations influence national climate policy?
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