Acting Director-General, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Amara Nwankpa, has said Africa finds itself in a climate crisis because the continent is among the most vulnerable populations, though it contributes relatively less to the global greenhouse gas emissions.
According to him, Africa constitutes about four per cent of global emissions, has highly resource-dependent economies, and holds 30 per cent of global Critical Resource Materials reserve (CRM) and 40 per cent of carbon sinks.
The climate crisis has become more visible with long-term shifts in temperature, rainfall, and wind patterns driven by human activities, emissions, land use, deforestation, and other triggers.
Nwankpa spoke yesterday at a training entitled: “Nestle advancing nutrition, health and environmental awareness through the media,” organised by the Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre, in partnership with Nestle for journalists. He lamented that Africa was central to the world’s energy future, but remained marginal in decision-making.
He observed that local impacts of climate change in Nigeria across its regions included drought, displacement resulting in Lake Chad shrinkage, flooding, and insecurity in the Northern states.
In the South-East, he said, there was erosion, displacement, particularly in Anambra; while in the South-West, there is urban flooding, and heat. In the South-Šouth, he noted that the impact was largely pollution and sea rise, particularly in the Niger Delta.
According to him, the challenge with the climate crisis is that it is a collective problem, a governance failure, and it constitutes a sovereignty problem. He listed loss of homes, land, livelihoods, and gendered burdens with regards to water, food, care and work as some of the negative impacts of climate change.
He added the issues of displacement, pressure on already fragile urban spaces, and instability undermining the future of youths as additional impacts. He urged the media to focus on what the people are doing to mitigate climate change, besides what the government is doing.
