A new study on Liberia’s environmental landscape reveals that the nation’s extreme vulnerability to climate change is being driven as much by governance failures as it is by rising sea levels and erratic weather patterns.
By Francis G. Boayue
Despite the visible and existential threats of coastal erosion and devastating floods, the research suggests that the institutions tasked with protecting Liberian citizens remain chronically underfunded, fragmented and overstretched.
The research—led by Mohammed W. Bah, a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Irvine, alongside Co-Author Associate Professor
Nicola Ulibarri—highlights a troubling trend: a persistent gap between policy and practice.
While Liberia has been proactive in signing international climate treaties, the study finds that local agencies are struggling with a lack of technical staff and operational budgets.
This administrative paralysis leaves frontline communities exposed to disasters, even in areas where risks have been documented for decades.
A critical concern raised in the findings is Liberia’s overwhelming reliance on external funding. Currently, the vast majority of climate adaptation projects are directed by international partners rather than national initiatives.
“This makes progress vulnerable to shifting donor priorities and limits national governance ownership,” the study states. It further notes that climate action remains peripheral in national budgeting and general political discourse, treated more as a foreign-funded hobby than a national security priority.
The study further points to “procedural injustice,” claiming that high-stakes decisions—such as relocation plans for coastal dwellers in West Point or New Kru Town—are often made without meaningful participation from the affected residents.
According to the report, this exclusion leads to: Deepening Mistrust: Friction between the government and citizens over land and resources, Project Failures: Interventions that fail because they lack local context or “buy-in, Self-Organized Coping: Vulnerable residents are forced to rely on meager personal resources as the state fails to provide a safety net.
To avert a worsening humanitarian crisis, the researchers have outlined a roadmap for the Liberian government ranging from Institutional Strengthening: Increase domestic budget allocations for environmental agencies and clarify overlapping ministerial mandates, Sovereignty in Finance: International aid should focus on building long-term national capacity rather than short-term, externally designed “band-aid” fixes, Participatory Governance: Engage affected communities early.
Local knowledge is vital to ensuring that sea walls or relocation efforts are both effective and legitimate, Mainstreaming Adaptation: Climate change must be integrated into housing, public health and infrastructure planning, rather than being treated as a standalone environmental issue.
