The Connected Development (CODE), on Thursday, brought together key stakeholders, including faith leaders, climate advocates, and policymakers to strengthen awareness and action on climate change.

It also highlighted Nigeria’s worsening environmental crisis, citing gas flaring in the Niger Delta, toxic pollution in urban centers, and reckless waste disposal as critical concerns.

Speaking at the event, Executive Director of Lux Terra Leadership Foundation, Rev. Fr. George Omaku Ehusani, condemned human greed and exploitation as the root causes of environmental destruction.

The event, themed “Faiths United for Climate Action: A Shared Responsibility,” emphasized the moral duty of religious communities to protect the environment and advocate for sustainable policies.

He lamented the exploitation of the natural environment, which he said has left the world’s poorest populations as helpless victims.

Ehusani said: “We are certainly not meant to be autonomous in our governance or stewardship over a territory that belongs to God alone. Human greed and acquisitiveness are the cause of ecological crisis, the root of today’s violent assault on the physical environment can be traced to the greed and acquisitiveness that is almost always accompanied by aggressive attacks and destructive manipulation.

“Pope John Paul the second blames today’s psychological crisis on what he calls an anthropological error, error about who we are and where we belong, which is unfortunately widespread in our day.

“He says, I quote, in his desire to have and to enjoy, rather than to be and to grow, man consumes the resources of the Earth and his own life in an excessive and disordered way, thus provoking a rebellion on the part of nature, which is more tyrannized than governed by man. Nature is more tyrannized than governed by human beings.”

He called for urgent action to curb environmental degradation, emphasizing that people do not need to be experts to recognize the damage being done to land, water, and air.

In his remarks, the Founder and CEO of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, emphasized the power of faith in driving social change.

He also criticized Nigeria’s inability to access climate finance opportunities despite billions of dollars being available globally to help nations mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Hamzat Lawal said: “We’re losing track of the implication of climate change. Climate change is already in front of us, but we’re not taking action as people, as government, as civil society, even as media. We’re not taking the messages to the people to take the right actions, and not because we don’t have the legal and regulatory framework.

“So we believe that, because Nigeria is a religious country, and we also believe that faith brings about justice, and climate change itself is about justice where we can co inhabit it without crisis. And this crisis is already here, and this crisis is influenced by the impact of climate change. So today we’re saying, How can we use faith to bring the messages of the kind of actions we want to see?

“If you look at climate finance, Nigeria is not doing well. We’re not doing well. We’re not accessing billions of dollars that we’re supposed to access to help us mitigate, to help us to adapt, and to ensure that we have technology that would help us be more resilient, so that when there is rain, for when there is drought, we can respond adequately. We are experiencing food sorting today’s food crisis because of its impact.”

Looking ahead to the Brazil Climate Summit, Lawal emphasized the need for Nigeria to take a strong stance on climate justice and ensure its voice is heard on the global stage.

Also speaking at the event, Rev. Fr. Dr. Atta Barkindo, Executive Director of the Kukah Centre, highlighted the crucial role of religious institutions in shaping public policy and climate education.

He said: “We try to mainstream the issue of climate change. Now, in literally every project and most of our projects, we engage with local communities to make their voices matter, so that their voices can inform public policy and policy formulation.”