The Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, has advocated for a collaborative governance model to mitigate the threats posed by ocean rise to communities in the state and the Niger Delta region.

Diri, who spoke yesterday at the Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Summit, held in advance of the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, from June 9 to 13, called for collaboration among global, national, and sub-national stakeholders to save communities ravaged by ocean surges and coastal erosion.

The governor said he was at the conference, which is being co-hosted by the governments of France and Costa Rica, in furtherance of his administration’s commitment to bringing to global attention the environmental challenges of his region, particularly Bayelsa State.

In his presentation during the panel session themed: “Multi-Level Governance of Coastal Cities and Regions,” the governor emphasised the primacy of collaboration among stakeholders if the challenges of global warming, climate change and ocean rise would be adequately addressed.

He said Bayelsa communities face an ever-present threat from rising sea levels and coastal erosion as a result of their geographical location.

Diri stated that his administration had initiated innovative policies to address some of the issues, including creating a ministry.

His words: “As a coastal state, Bayelsa lies below the sea level and consequently faces the risks associated with ocean rise. About 70 per cent of its land area is occupied by rivers, and it borders the Atlantic Ocean on its three senatorial flanks.

“Bayelsa is the first and the only sub-national in Nigeria to create a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in 2024 after President Bola Tinubu’s pioneering initiative in 2023. We have done a lot of policy innovation in the state in line with what the federal ministry has done.