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Paper short abstract

Environmental degradation and climate change threaten livelihoods in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. This study shows that grassroots climate action and community agency enhance resilience and challenge unequal power relations, highlighting the need for inclusive, justice-driven climate governance.

Paper long abstract

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria continues to experience environmental degradation driven by oil exploitation, climate change, and weak governance, with serious consequences for livelihoods and socio-ecological sustainability. Communities face heightened vulnerability as dependence on climate-sensitive natural resources intersects with political and economic marginalisation. While policy responses often portray affected populations as passive victims, this paper foregrounds grassroots climate action and community agency as drivers of transformative development futures. Anchored in climate justice and political ecology frameworks, the study examines how community-led initiatives—including environmental monitoring, livelihood diversification, collective adaptation practices, and advocacy for environmental accountability—shape resilience and development trajectories in selected Niger Delta communities. A qualitative case study approach is adopted, drawing on secondary data, policy documents, and empirical insights from community-based livelihood systems to analyse the relationship between grassroots climate action and transformative outcomes. The findings show that strong community agency enhances adaptive capacity, strengthens social cohesion, improves livelihood sustainability, and enables communities to contest unequal power relations involving the state and extractive corporations. However, the transformative potential of grassroots initiatives is constrained by limited institutional support, political exclusion, and unequal access to climate finance and decision-making spaces. The paper argues that sustainable development in the Niger Delta cannot be achieved through top-down environmental policies alone. It concludes by calling for inclusive climate governance that recognises and integrates community-led initiatives into national climate strategies, thereby advancing locally driven, equitable, and resilient development futures in the region.