Literary arts key to climate change mitigation – experts

As the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, entered its critical second and final week, environmental experts have emphasised the importance of literary arts in inspiring action to mitigate climate change.

The experts said literature has the power to raise awareness and sympathy to motivate actions against climate change.

They spoke while addressing participants at the just concluded North East Festival of Literature, Culture, and Creativity (NEFLiCC) organised by an environmental and entrepreneurship-centered non-governmental organisation, HalimaFactor Community Initiative.

The 2024 NEFLICC, the 4th in the series with the theme, “Future Perspective: Climate Change, Innovation and Heritage”, took place at Gombe State University, featuring poetry, prose and drawing competition; tree planting; cultural fiesta and more.

Founder of HalimaFactor Community Initiative, Halima Usman, called for more awareness among young Nigerians to drive a responsible action towards mitigating the negative effects of climate change.

According to her, only the right action today can guarantee a healthy ecosystem tomorrow that will ensure a healthy living for humans, and create the right environment for economic activities to thrive.

Usman said that literary arts is a crucial tool to raise consciousness on the need for environment friendly actions that would increase the quality of life of humans and animals.

“It is important we begin to teach everyone, including our children on how to take care of their environment. This is because in a short period of time to come, the environment will become unbearable if we don’t do something about it.

“This programme becomes one of the platforms to create the needed awareness, because the students who have converged from various schools for this event know that at the end, they will write stories, poems and speak about environment and this helps them to ask question on what is actually climate change.

“It also has a trickle down effect to the extent that they will be in a good position to educate others on what climate change is and what is expected of them to do in order to protect the environment”, she stated.

In his remarks, the Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Abubakar Kari said that the government is taking drastic actions that will assist in mitigating the impact of climate change.

He said the government is tackling deforestation and encroachment on forest reserves across the state, as well as enacting policies that will encourage responsible mining of mineral resources to reduce its impact on the environment.

He commended HalimaFactor Community Initiative for taking issues that affect the environment seriously, and reiterated the commitment of the state government to invest more on education to give young people in the state opportunity to realize their full potentials through creativity, critical thinking and essential skills acquisition.

In her remarks, the guest speaker, Joyce Agofure, observed the impacts of climate change saying the menace is having a serious social and economic impact in the country, especially with displacement of communities by flood, shrinking farmlands, poor agricultural yields, migration, and insecurity.

She said that literature is a veritable tool to drive robust awareness on good environmental behaviour which can significantly reduce the impact of climate change.

Noting that climate change is triggering hunger, causing forced migration, and affecting general livelihood and health, she maintained that equipping communities with the right information is key to saving the environment for the future.