By Okeoghene Akubuike
Some stakeholders in the environment sector, on Tuesday, called for more engagements in mitigating the effects of climate change on Nigeria.
The stakeholders spoke at the Post-COP25 National Consultative Workshop, organised by Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet) in Abuja.
The CSDevNet Board of Trustees Chairman, Dr Ibrahim Choji, said that the event was aimed at reviewing the outcome and challenges of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25), held in Madrid, Spain.
Represented by the organisations National Network Coordinator, Atayi Babs, Choji said that it was imperative for Nigeria to commence the process of identifying the solutions before the next COP26.
According to him, the next COP26 is scheduled for November 2021 at Glasgow, United Kingdom.
The network has forged collaborations with like-minded governmental and non-governmental partners, including research institutions, to establish initiatives that will advance their shared vision in regional development discourses.
These collaboration will help, particularly in the implementation of the Paris Agreement, Agenda 2063 of the African Union and the UN Agenda 2030, he said.
Choji expressed optimism that the state actors would provide a clear blueprint for engaging the civil society for the country to achieve its Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs) and SDGs.
Hajiya Halima Bawa-Bwari, the acting Director, Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment, said that the ministry was preparing for COP26.
She also disclosed that the ministry was already engaging various stakeholders, including MDAs, state and non-state actors as well as development partners.
Represented by Hajiya Aamau Jubril, Bawa-Bwari added that the ministry had also established climate change desks in all the states and the FCT, in partnership with development partners.
We need to know what the people at the local levels are doing to ensure climate resilience. So we have given the desk officers a template to feed in mitigation actions happening in all the states.
The department also engages through regular sensitisation programmes, which include trainings and workshops in the six geo-political zones as well as engaging with the private and public sectors to raise awareness on climate change and the NDCs, she said.
Bawa-Bwari said that the national policy on climate change and NDCs were currently being reviewed, adding that a sectoral plan for its implementation had been developed.
Sean Melbourne, Head of Climate Change and Energy (West Africa) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at the British High Commission, Abuja, said that the UK government would engage with stakeholders.
Make no mistake; Africa will help shape the COPs success or failure, and Nigeria, given the size of its economy and growing population and with its regional and international influence and reach, is clearly recognised as a key country on the continent to engage, he said.
Represented by Adesuwa Obasuyi, the Manager of Climate Change Policy in the commission, Sean said that climate action was the concern of everybody, adding that it was, therefore, imperative for all stakeholders to play their parts.
We are engaging through the COP26 campaigns that are relevant to Nigeria and they focus on adaptation and resilience, nature, clean energy transition and finance, he said.
Sean added that his home government was working closely with Nigeria in reviewing the NDCs to strengthen the countrys climate action commitments.
He also disclosed that his home government was supporting the innovative solutions and policy frameworks that would deliver low-carbon and climate-resilient growth through several programmes in Nigeria.
NAN reports that the workshop was organised by CSDevNet in collaboration with ECOWAS, Federal Ministry of Environment, the Nigerian Civil Society Framework on Paris Agreement and SDGs (NCSFPAS) and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
Source: NAN News