Economic Confidential, June, 2009

FEATURES

Efforts to Combat Climate Change and Save the Planet

By John Odey

I feel highly honored that you have all joined us for this year’s World Environment Day celebration. The Day was created as an Annual event by the United Nations General Assembly to mark its Conference on Human Environment which took place in 1972, in Stockholm , Sweden . There, a decision was taken to set aside the 5th of June every year to create awareness and appraise the significance of the Environment. This was with a view to providing a focus for decision and policy makers to reaffirm their commitment to actions that will safeguard the earth and guarantee sustainable development.

In view of the importance of this occasion, today, Nigeria is joining the rest of the World to commemorate the 2009 World Environment Day. The theme of this year’s World Environment Day celebration is “YOUR PLANET NEEDS YOU, UNITE TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE”. The theme of this celebration shows the urgency for nations to unite and agree on a new deal to combat Climate Change.

As usual the Day is expected to be marked by all the States of the Federation with series of awareness activities and programmes around the theme. At the Federal level, activities for the World Environment Day have included:  Press briefing that took place on Tuesday 2nd June 2009, observation of the Day, the National Schools debate, Exhibition of best practices, Tree Planting and distribution of seedlings.

Permit me at this juncture to mention some of the consequences of Climate Change in Nigeria . Climate Change impacts could pose great dangers with consequences of desertification, sea-level rise, flooding and water salinity among others. These impacts could manifest in food security challenges, damage to infrastructure and social dislocation. Additional impact is threat to Health as rising temperature could bring about diseases like Cerebro – Spinal Meningitis (CSM), Malaria and other related illnesses.

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua GCFR, has emphasized at several fora that Nigeria is concerned with the rising level of global carbon emission leading to climate change. Although we are not one of the major countries responsible for the emissions, we are prepared to be part of the efforts to arrest the effects.

We solicit everybody’s involvement in the awareness campaign and the programs and projects of government as part of our mitigation and adaptation strategies. Plant and nurture a tree, maintain sustainable practices to safeguard our environment.

To concretize our efforts to combat Climate Change and mitigate its effect, Ministry of Environment is currently focusing on the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and other Climate Friendly projects. The projects include: The Recovery of Associated gas that would otherwise be flared at Kwale oil-gas processing plant for energy generation; the Pan Ocean gas Utilization Project recently registered by the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism; integrated Waste management projects;  promotion of the cultivation of wood-fuel plantation; rainforest Management and Nursery development among others.

It is necessary to inform you that the Federal Executive Council has approved the first Wind Farm to be sited in Katsina State to generate 10MW of electricity in line with our policy to gradually move 20% of electricity consumers to renewable energy.

All these and other projects are being undertaken in line with the approved action plans. The action plans include: National Action Plan to mitigate the effects of Climate Change; adaptation Strategies of Action for Nigeria ; National Ozone Programme of Action; National Forestry Development Programme; National action Plan to Combat Desertification and National Capacity Self-Assessment (NCSA) for programs bordering on some multilateral environmental agreements.

Policies

Government has put in place some policies in line with the 7-Point Agenda of President Yar’Adua to pave way for investors’ collaboration and cooperation in the Environment sector. Some of the policies in the Environment sector include: National Erosion and Flood Control Policy; National Environmental Sanitation Policy; National Forestry Policy; National Drought and Desertification Policy and National Policy on E-Waste Control and Management.

One major step by this administration towards combating Climate Change and protecting our natural resources is the extensive reforestation and afforestation program initiated by President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua. The program includes community-based wood-lots, control of fuel wood extraction from the reserves and the development of more efficient wood stoves. The Afforestation program is based on the conviction that Forests contribute to the mitigation of the impact of Climate Change through Carbon sequestration. The program is also focused at combating the problem of desertification, empowering rural communities economically and creating millions of green jobs among our youths.

Within the African context, Nigeria is also resolutely driving the Green-wall Sahara Programme from Mauritania in the West to Djibouti in the East. The goal is not only to promote the sinks for carbon dioxide as one of the means of mitigating climate change but also to safeguard our biological diversity and enhance the ecological status of the area.

Institutional Mechanism for Combating Climate Change

The Federal Government created the Special Climate Change Unit (SCCU) under the Federal Ministry of Environment to specifically deal with and co-ordinate Climate Change issues in Nigeria . There is also a close collaboration with the Nigeria Meteorological Agency to build an Early Warning System to reduce disaster in the country.

The Government has made significant progress in addressing the problem of Climate Change through the following: Preparation and submission of Nigeria ’s First National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); Preparation of Nigeria 2nd National Communication is on- going; Participating among 14 Anglo- and Franco-phone countries in the Regional project to build capacity for greenhouse gases inventory in West and Central Africa;

Signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Italian government in the area of Climate Change with particular reference to CDM implementation in Nigeria; Signing an MOU with the UNDP for capacity-building in the area of the Clean Development Mechanism; Participating in the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol processes especially in further negotiations towards elaborating issues of implementation within the Convention and the Protocol as the world prepares for Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 and Participation in the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism based in Bonn , Germany.

Through the forum of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN), Nigeria is actively participating in Climate Change debates and discussions to enable Africa speak with one voice during climate change negotiation meetings. The government is also collaborating with the Prince of Wales Rainforest Project to investigate ways in which we can preserve Nigeria ’s Rainforest Resources and launching of a three-year strategic awareness programme on Climate Change through organization of seminars and workshops on specific issues relating to Climate Change;

We will be circulating various published materials on a continuous basis as part of our awareness and publicity campaign on the Environment. We will also hold an International Summit on Climate Change in the 3rd Quarter of this year, prior to our attendance at Copenhagen in December this year.

Government, through the National Planning Commission, is working towards a national climate change preparedness and response master-plan, which includes early-warning strategies.

The future, peace and prosperity of our environment, protection and conservation of the natural resources remain the responsibility of every one. Let’s unite and combat Climate Change.  Global Warming is real.

Hon. John Odey is Nigeria’s Minister of Environment. He delivered this piece on the occasion of the 2009 World Environment Day in Abuja