EMBEDDING INCLUSION IN CLIMATE LAW ACROSS SUB- SAHARAN AFRICA: UBUNTU, DECOLONIALITY AND PRACTICAL INSTRUMENTS’ LESSONS FROM NIGERIA AND KENYA

Abstract

Climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) intensifies social inequities, disproportionately harming women, Indigenous peoples, rural communities, youth, and persons with disabilities (PWDs) who are frequently excluded from decision-making. This paper contends that legal frameworks must transcend generic rights language and embed African values of solidarity, communal responsibility, and justice. Drawing on Ubuntu, decolonial critique, feminist environmental justice, and legal pluralism, it derives normative principles for inclusive climate law. A qualitative comparative analysis of Nigeria and Kenya finds progressive statutory language in both but implementation gaps: Kenya’s climate statute incorporates a two-thirds gender principle and an indigenous knowledge representative, whereas Nigeria’s arrangements enumerate stakeholder categories without quotas, binding free, prior, informed consent (FPIC), or robust community consent mechanisms. Most provisions remain hortatory rather than enforceable. The paper proposes model clauses and policy instruments—quotas, FPIC, gender and disability impact assessments, enforceable accountability, and subnational capacity-building—to operationalize intersectional inclusion in climate governance across Africa.