West Africans have a long history of coping with challenging climatic conditions. Mobility has always been a key strategy for people in the region to manage risks and avail opportunities, be it nomads traveling the Sahel to feed their livestock, fishermen braving stormy seas, or merchants crossing the desert. However, as climate shocks and stresses escalate in the coming decades, West Africans could face unprecedented challenges. Despite the region's relatively small carbon footprint, it will be one of those most affected by the impacts of climate change. The study finds that without concrete climate and development action, up to 32 million people in West Africa could be compelled to move within their countries by 2050, in response to water scarcity, declines in crop productivity and sea level rise, augmented by storm surge. By 2050, Nigeria alone could have up to 9.4 million internal climate migrants, the highest count in the region, while Senegal could see internal climate migrants reaching over 3 percent of its population - the highest share in the region. Smaller coastal countries in West Africa like Benin could see climate migrants representing 40 percent all internal migrants by 2050.
