This story by Zita Zage originally appeared on Global Voices on November 28, 2025.
The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP30, has just concluded in Brazil. Among the African countries with the largest official delegations were Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania. Yet one influential hub that was not present at the conference, though it continues to reshape climate justice discourse across Nigeria through feminist action, is the Women Initiative for Sustainable Development (WISE).
WISE challenges the elitism of climate talks, centering lived experiences, and aims to build collective power across borders. They offer a critical counterbalance to top-down, often exclusionary international negotiations. This hub aims to foster community-driven solutions, amplify feminist demands, and ensure that feminist principles of care and solidarity shape the climate agenda.
In an interview with its founding director, Olanike Olugboji-Daramola, offers more insight into the hub’s work, emphasizing that climate justice is not only about being represented at spaces like COP30 — it is about transforming the conversation altogether, starting from the grassroots.
Zita Zage (ZZ): Can you tell us about yourself?
Olanike Olugboji-Daramola (OOD): My name is Olanike Olugboji-Daramola, the founding Director of WISE. I am a multi-award-winning conservationist, climate justice actor, women’s empowerment advocate, citizen journalist, public speaker and writer.
In addition to directing WISE, I serve as Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA)’s Nigeria Project Lead and a correspondent for World Pulse, where I speaks on critical issues like climate change. My writing has been featured in Time Magazine, and I am involved in a number of leadership and global initiatives, like the Inclusive Global Leadership Institute, How Women Lead/Women Leaders for the World, Empowerment Institute USA, Clean Cooking Alliance and others.
ZZ: What is the Women Initiative for Sustainable Development (WISE)? When was it established, and for what purpose?
OOD: Inspired by my care for nature and unique sense of equity, I founded the Environmental Management and Protection Network (EMPRONET) in 2004. In 2009, EMPRONET transitioned to Women Initiative for Sustainable Environment (WISE), a legally registered nonprofit organization that advances grassroots women’s representation, active participation, and leadership in natural resource governance and peace building. Through WISE, we lobby individuals, governmental and intergovernmental bodies, NGOs, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and other individuals and corporate organizations to develop environmentally sustainable initiatives that socially and economically empower women. To date, our efforts have directly impacted over 150,000 women at the grassroots, significantly enhancing their roles in natural resource management and sustainable development.
ZZ: The UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) just ended. Did WISE participate in this conference or has it participated in previous editions?
OOD: With funding support received from Global Fund for Women, our organization, Women Initiative for Sustainable Environment, organized what was termed a Pre-COP28 Awareness rally in Kaduna state Nigeria to demand for climate justice for women and affirmative representation at the 28th edition of the UN Climate Change Conference.
The rally was organized ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference also referred to as the Conference of Parties (COP 28) scheduled to hold from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The goal of the rally was to demand for climate justice for women and affirmative participation at the Conference of Parties (COP). The rally was also intended for the purpose of creating awareness, as many people were not informed about the terrible impacts of climate change in their communities.
Similarly, many residents do not know anything about COP. I have heard so many leaders saying that women are the most impacted by the effect of climate change and they are the first responders, but sadly, at the decision-making tables, their voices are missing. The concerns of women need to be heard as it concerns climate change, because so many women in Nigeria are still using firewood to cook. It is one of the greatest causes of deforestation thus contributing to the spate of invasive deforestation.
ZZ: What are some of Nigeria’s climate plans that women have contributed to or advocated for?
OOD: While women have historically been underrepresented in high-level policy discussions, their involvement in climate policy-making has been a growing priority in Nigeria. In recent years, especially, women in Nigeria are having more opportunities to play pivotal roles in shaping climate plans and programs at the national and local levels specifically through extensive consultations, inclusive plan development and Integration into national policies, and ongoing key women-led initiatives which are ensuring women’s participation in strategic efforts.
From policy and program design to formulation, implementation and reporting, most notably through the National Action Plan on Gender and Climate Change which is a strategy, launched in 2020, aimed at ensuring climate policies and programs are inclusive of all genders and vulnerable groups. These efforts reflect a recognition that women are disproportionately affected by climate change and possess valuable knowledge and skills necessary for effective climate action and resilience-building.
See Also: The Green Fault Line: The Global North, China, and the Politics of Climate Finance in South Asia
ZZ: Can you share with us some key takeaways from your recent events: the book reading, farm visit, and small holder dialogue?
OOD: On Friday, November 21st, we organized a Book Reading session as part of the Nigerian Resistance Hub for Climate Justice, themed “COP Missing Voices.” This event brought women and young females together to unpack and reflect on the emotional, social, and economic effects of floods on rural women farmers. In small breakout group discussions, participants openly explored how climate-induced flooding reinforces burdens such as:
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
The conversations also shifted toward solutions — what communities and policymakers can do to ease these burdens and build resilience. Key recommendations shared included:
Proper drainage systems and improved waste management
Community advocacy and awareness programs
Stronger enforcement of environmental sanitation
Compensation mechanisms for affected communities
Tree planting and environmentally friendly policies
Stricter laws against illegal felling of trees
Construction of dams and flood-control structures
Training for women on constructive response techniques
Enlightenment on insurance policies to reduce financial shock
To witness firsthand the adverse effects of climate change on the lives of women farmers, we embarked on a walk to the farm. During this farm visit, one woman, Madam Elizabeth, shared her struggle with how she was forced to plant her corn at least four times this year before the crops could finally stabilize. It is the dry season, but the very soil that sustains her crops is becoming drier than usual, cakey and cracked due to insufficient rainfall and moisture, an alarming sign of drought. This struggle is a growing crisis, especially for rural women farmers whose livelihoods depend entirely on the land.
The small holder dialogue was among the activities featured in COP30: Nigerian Resistance Hub for Climate Justice — “COP Missing Voices.” During the dialogue, participants engaged in a roundtable discussion, sharing firsthand experiences on how climate change affects their agricultural production, the challenges of accessing finance and technology, local adaptation successes, and regenerative farming practices. The discussions also generated recommendations and actionable proposals for promoting sustainable agriculture.
ZZ: I know you have won several awards. Can you tell us about the ones you are most proud of and why?
OOD: Reflecting on my journey, two awards I am most proud of are being honored as a World Pulse Live Tour Speaker in 2014 and a World Trade Congress Ambassador in 2022. Both awards afforded me advantageous opportunities to speak about Nigerian Women’s struggles with environmental degradation and climate change, while also projecting women-led grassroots solutions championed through WISE, and also making recommendations that I knew were taken into account and amplified. These global platforms amplified my voice beyond Nigeria and provided me with much-needed motivation and support to keep advancing the cause that I remain committed to. Every recognition that has come my way is not just about me, but it echoes the reverberating voices of women who refuse to be sidelined in the climate conversation, the communities that embraced transformation, and the struggles we must continue to surmount together.
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