FG, stakeholders urge implementation of Glasgow accord

The Federal Government and other stakeholders in the environment sector have stressed the need to strengthen the Department of Climate Change through capacity development and provision of adequate funding.

They said there is a need for urgent take off of the outcomes of Climate Change Summit held in Glasgow, Scotland (COP26) by putting into practice the recently approved Climate Change Act and Nigeria’s commitments to the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Agreement.

Speaking at a national forum in Abuja, the Minister of State for Environment, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor, explained that due to lack of agreement on the draft text, the accord was eventually reached on major agenda items towards addressing climate change to allow the adoption of the Glasgow climate pact.

Ikeazor, who spoke on adaptation, mitigation and finance stated that parties had established a work programme to define them, which will identify collective needs and solutions to the climate crisis already affecting many countries.

She argued that the Santiago Network would further be strengthened by elaborating its functions in support of countries to address loss and damage due to impacts of global climate change, adding that two registries for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Adaptation Communications (ADCOMs) were approved.

She said: “They will serve as channels for information flow towards the Global Stocktake (GST) that is to take place every five years, starting in 2023. Parties agreed to a “phase down” instead of a “phase out” of coal and fossil fuel subsidies while providing targeted support to developing countries in line with economical peculiarities.”

A climate change expert, Prof. Emmanuel Oladipo, who spoke on “Mapping the key outcomes for national action,” examined various climate actions undertaken in Nigeria with presentations by Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), state governments and private sectors.

Oladipo said the negotiations at the Conference of Parties centered on mitigation of greenhouse gases, adaptation to the impacts of climate technology, finance, education, awareness and gender issues, adding that the innovations would promote eco-friendly transportation.

Another expert, Dr. Samuel Adejuwon, said: “The private sector has shown strong engagement with nearly 500 global financial services firms, agreeing to align $130 trillion and the goals set out in the Paris agreement, including limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be achieved.”

The facilitator of the forum, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, said: “We want to develop an implementation roadmap for national climate actions that will leverage the opportunities for green transition to create and strengthen the country’s resilience against climate change.”

He called for deeper understanding of the outcomes of COP26 and what they imply for Nigeria’s climate policy and economic development, as well as plan for the 2022 summit in Egypt.