AE-FUNAI launches climate change project

To create awareness on Ebonyi State as one the most vulnerable states in Nigeria, Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State has launched a climate change project.

The project is sponsored by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), United Kingdom (UK). The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Sunday Elom, who declared a two- day workshop open, stated that while some aspects of climate change are natural, the world’s scientists have long established that the greenhouse gas emissions and human activities are responsible for climate change.

Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Abel Ezeoha, the Vice-Chancellor said the university has planted over 30,000 trees under the initiative in the past five years and plans to plant about 1,000 timber trees that will not only yield enormous financial resources in the next 20 years but also help in combating climate change.

He, therefore, congratulated the Project Coordinator, Dr. Chinwe Ogunji, for securing the ACU fellowship grant, which led to the commencement of the AE-FUNAI Climate Change Action Project.

Elom promised to ensure that the Directorate of Campus-Green-Initiative works closely to deliver the university’s green vision in the state by setting examples in the 20 secondary schools participating in the project.

She noted that the integration of secondary school teachers as part of the project is to saddle them with the responsibility of raising awareness about climate change among junior secondary school teachers in Ebonyi State.

She further emphasised that sensitisation on the causes, impact, adaptation and mitigation of climate change has not been sufficiently done in the state, thus the involvement of the educational sector to improve the climate literacy.

Delivering the keynote speech on “Engaging A Critical Mass Of Change Agents For Climate Action,” Dr. Katherine Nnamani, harped on the need to adapt to climate change by highlighting remedies to the effect of the environmental menace.