African women query UN climate policy as Swiss-Nigeria forum seeks clean waste management

The West and Central African Women’s Climate Assembly has interrogated effectiveness of policies by the United Nations (UN) in safeguarding the global ecosystem.

The event, which featured women, who are environmentalists, drawn from different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Guinea Conakry, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroun, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Democratic Republic of Congo made the demand in a communique.

They urged various governments in Africa to project the issue of gas flaring in the forthcoming 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) in Egypt, an event that will aim at tackling climate change.

Executive Director of Kebetkache Women Development and Resources Centre, Emem Okon, said: “The United Nations is preparing towards what we call COP 27, and they have been doing that every year without any impact from all their meetings.

“This year, between November 6 and 18, the UN will be meeting again in Egypt, and we are looking at what would be the impact of the COP27 on Africans, particularly, women in Africa. We are also looking to see how women’s voices can be heard at the COP 27.”

Okon noted that one of the key demands of the women is for oil multinationals to end gas flaring and more engagement of women in climate change and awareness programmes.
This came as Swiss business experts called for collaboration with Nigerian firms to combat waste and achieve a healthier environment.

They harped on the use of technology and investment promotion to address the impact of dumping waste on land surface.

This call was made at the Swiss-Nigeria Innovative Forum, during the West Africa Clean Energy and Environment Trade Fair and Conference (WACEE), held in Lagos.

Executive Director, Circular Economy Innovation Partnership, Natalie Beinisch, stressed the need for innovation, as waste dumping at landfills causes land degradation among other environmental pollution.

She said: “The Swiss innovative tech aims at striking a balance between society’s needs and the global ecosystem on waste reduction, recycling and access to clean energy.”

On his part, Executive Secretary, Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA), Arese Onaghise, said the private sector should drive policy ideas on clean technology financing.

According to her, there needs to be a sustainable system of gathering and recycling waste, as a lot of people are not aware that there is a lot of value placed on it.

On financing, she noted that when all stakeholders play their parts effectively, investors would see reason to put money into projects.