President Muhammadu Buhari pledged that; Nigeria would cut its emissions to net zero by 2060.
Delivering his national statement at COP26 Leaders’ Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, the President said that – attaining national and global climate change goals would require adequate and sustained technical and financial support to developing countries.
He also said that, greater effort should be channeled towards assisting developing nations to meet their ‘‘Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitments through the pledges made by the developed countries to provide at least $100 billion yearly.’’
Cross section of delegates from Left to Right: Representative of the British High Commission, Director of the Institute of Environmental Studies, Environmental Advocate, and Partnering CSOs representative.
Barely 6 days after the end of COP 26, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law two important bills passed by the National Assembly thereby making them to become part of the Laws of the Federation.
One of the bills is the Climate Change Act.
The Climate Change Act owes its origin to a bill sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives, Sam Onuigbo and provides for, among other things, the mainstreaming of climate change actions and the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change. It also paves the way for environmental and economic accounting and a push for a net zero emission deadline plan in the country.
However, as with every legislation, the true essence and implication of the bill has not been fully grasped in these early months of the Act.
To this., the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP) in partnership with Lift Humanity Foundation and other relevant stakeholders on the 25th Day of May, 2022 embarked on the “Implement Climate Change Act Now” Workshop Program.
The essence of the program was to simplify and interpret the clauses of the Climate Change Act, get the Government of Nigeria to implement the climate change Act through sustained pressure, and to also increase awareness on the climate change Act and its implication for a better environment in Nigeria. This is important in order to galvanize support and foster synergy among relevant stakeholders for the effective implementation of the Act. More importantly, to provide climate change enthusiasts and activists crucial information concerning the Act in order to hold the government accountable and transparent.
Cross Section of Participants and Representatives of Stakeholders
In attendance for the Stakeholders’ review of the Climate Change Act was the media, and at least 20 stakeholders that participated in the review cutting across from Ministries, Departments and Agencies that lobbied for the Bill Passage of the Climate Change Act.
At the end of the 1day Stakeholder Review of the Climate Change Act Workshop; participants drawn from the Academia, CSOs, and relevant spheres came up with social media hashtags in a bid to reach-out to wider audience and the world at-large.
By Harrison Ekoh, Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation volunteer.