When floodwater enters a home, a farmer loses a harvest, or the sea washes away land, families suffer. Children miss school, businesses lose income, and communities struggle to recover. Climate change increases these risks. Understanding it helps us protect ourselves and our country.
By Dr. Emmanuel King Urey Yarkpawolo
Executive Director, Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia
Climate change means lasting changes in the Earth’s temperatures and usual weather patterns. Weather is what happens today: sunshine, rain, or wind. Climate is the pattern we expect over many years, including our rainy and dry seasons.
The Earth is warming mainly because human activities release gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. Burning coal, petrol, diesel, and gas produces these gases. Cutting and burning forests adds to the problem because trees absorb carbon dioxide, one of the main gases warming the planet. These gases act like an extra blanket around the Earth, holding in more heat.
Liberia contributes very little to global emissions, yet we are highly vulnerable. Many Liberians depend on farming, live near the coast, or lack strong roads, proper drainage, and reliable basic services. These conditions make climate pressures harder to withstand.
Along our coast, rising sea levels increase the danger of flooding and erosion, threatening homes, roads, businesses, and livelihoods. For farmers, changing rainfall makes planting decisions harder. Heavy rain, dry spells, and higher temperatures can damage crops and reduce harvests. When farmers produce less, their incomes suffer and food supplies come under pressure.
Health and daily work are also affected. Extreme heat makes outdoor work more difficult. Floods can contaminate drinking water and damage roads, disrupting access to clinics, schools, and markets. Families with fewer resources often have the greatest difficulty recovering.
Not every flood or damaged shoreline is caused by climate change alone. Blocked drains, poorly planned construction, and destruction of wetlands can worsen the damage. We must address both climate change and the local practices that make communities more vulnerable.
We cannot end climate change overnight, but we can slow it down and reduce its harm. This means cutting the gases that cause warming while preparing for changes already happening. Cleaner energy, forest protection, stronger infrastructure, and better weather warnings all have a role.
The Government of Liberia, through the EPA and its partners, is already acting. Coastal protection projects in Sinoe County and metropolitan Monrovia are being implemented to reduce risks from coastal flooding and erosion and protect livelihoods. The Climate Information Systems project is strengthening weather monitoring and early warnings so that farmers, fishermen, and communities can better prepare for dangerous weather.
Government is also turning waste into a resource. Working with the Monrovia City Corporation, the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, and international partners, the EPA has helped establish a composting facility in Fiamah. It is designed to turn food scraps and other organic waste into compost that improves soil for farming. This shows how better waste management can support cleaner communities and agriculture.
The EPA is also enforcing environmental laws. Nationwide inspections have covered mining operations, industrial sites, coastal areas, and waste facilities across all 15 counties. Actions include stopping illegal operations, ordering corrections, and imposing fines. Protecting rivers, forests, wetlands, and farmland also helps communities withstand climate pressures. Development must provide jobs without sacrificing people’s health and livelihoods.
However, the needs exceed available resources. Coastal protection, drainage, weather services, and nationwide monitoring require sustained funding, equipment, trained personnel, and maintenance. Families also need affordable alternatives to activities that damage the environment.
Large emitters carry a greater responsibility. Countries and industries that have released the most warming gases, especially over many decades, should make deep and rapid emissions cuts. Financing tree planting elsewhere should accompany real reductions from their own factories, power plants, and transport systems.
Wealthy developed countries also have responsibilities to help poorer countries respond. The Paris Agreement requires developed countries to provide financial support to developing countries for reducing emissions and preparing for climate impacts. Liberia needs accessible funding, useful technology, and training that reach communities most at risk.
Major emitters should also support people facing losses that cannot be prevented, including destroyed homes and lost livelihoods. Liberia should not carry an unfair financial burden for a crisis it contributed little to creating. This is a matter of fairness.
Our small contribution to global emissions does not remove our own responsibilities. Citizens should join government’s efforts by reporting pollution, protecting public facilities, keeping rubbish out of drains and streams, avoiding waste burning, saving electricity, and following official weather warnings. Keeping drains clear will not stop global warming, but it can reduce local flood damage.
Businesses must respect environmental permits, reduce waste, and correct damage from their operations. Schools, religious institutions, traditional leaders, and the media can explain climate issues in everyday language and local languages. Communities should help shape projects affecting their homes and livelihoods, while holding government accountable for results.
Every Liberian deserves a safe home, clean water, dependable food, and a secure future. Government is taking action, but lasting progress requires citizens, businesses, and international partners to contribute. Large emitters must fulfil their responsibilities, and we must fulfil ours. Protecting Liberia is a shared responsibility.