CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP ON THE NIGERIA CLIMATE CHANGE ACT IMPLEMENTATION Date: Wednesday 25th May, 2022 Venue: Denis Hotel, Wuse 2, Abuja, Nigeria Time: 10:00am Mr. Pius Oko of Lift Humanity Foundation (LHF) anchored the event, welcoming participants. According to Mr. Pius OKO, In November 2021, Nigeria passed the Climate Change Bill that further affirms the government’s aim to cut current emissions by 50% by 2050 and achieve net zero emissions as early as possible in the second half of the century (net zero target for 2050 to 2070). The bill includes provisions to set five-year carbon budgets under a National Climate Change Action Plan to be ratified by the Federal Executive Council. The Federal Ministry of Environment is tasked with setting the carbon budgets, while the National Council on Climate Change, established by the bill, will oversee implementation. After careful review, it is clear that Nigeria needs additional support to implement policies and programs captured in the Climate Change Act. Sequel to the above, Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), in collaboration with Lift Humanity Foundation (LHF) and other CSOs, convened a one-day consultative workshop to analyze and interpret the clauses of the Climate Change Act in order to galvanize support, foster synergy and inspire interest of relevant stakeholders for effective monitoring and implementation of the Act. The objectives of the consultative workshop were; Galvanize support for CSOs to push for the implementation and enforcement of the Climate Change Bill. Promote understanding for successful implementation of the Climate Change Bill. Enhance state and non-state actors’ knowledge of the provisions of the law that will inform plans, programs and advocacy initiatives as well as strategies to strengthen accountability of government on the implementation. The opening remark led by the Executive Director of GIFSEP. He intimated the audience on the climate change act implementation so far and the absence of climate change talks in the discussions of aspiring political officers. He also mentioned that the representative of the Federal Ministry of Environment was absent at the workshop due to the fact that no implementation process had begun so far. He reiterated the need to be deliberate before the end of this political tenure as the incoming government may not be proactive in implementing the Act. Mrs. Adesuwa Obasuyi, the Climate Policy Manager at the British High Commission (BHC), made known to the participants that there are provisions for climate change funds and obligations to public and private climate advocacy organizations at the British High Commission. She explained that the British High Commission provided support and advocacy for the Act even though there were other challenges in ensuring that the Act is fully implemented. She concluded her remarks by expressing her concerns about the absence of workshops and public engagements about the Climate Change Act at state levels. Professor Hassan Shuaibu made a presentation of the simplified version of the Climate Change Act at the workshop. He harped on the need for the President Buhari to urgently establish the National Council on Climate Change which is saddled with the responsibility of implementing the Act, adding that nothing can be done in the absence of the council. Mr. Yahaya Dangana discussed the implementation schedule of the Climate Change Act and its key indices. He applauded the government for passing the Climate Change Bill. He explained the concept of climate justice and affirmed that the passing of the Climate Change Bill is a step forward in the right direction. He emphasized the importance of handing over a safe environment to other generations and pointed out the importance of the Bill achieving this. Mr. Yahaya stated that the consultative workshop was a clarion call to CSOs and members of the public to be a part of the Climate Change Act implementation process. However, he mentioned that there is no commencement date for the act and also expressed concerns as regards no functional Director General for the implementation and no secretariat set up for the Act’s implementation. Furthermore, he discussed the means of stressing the demands of CSOs which was in summary; to mobilize, lobby and talk to the government towards the implementation of the Act. Mr. Kenneth Akpan commended GIFSEP, LHF and partners for organizing the workshop which was very key in following up the Climate Change Act implementation. Mr. David Michael requested for suggestions from the participants on how best to engage aspiring political leaders in the fight for the Climate Change Act implementation. The following are the summary of participants’ contributions towards engaging aspiring political leaders in climate change discussions and building resilience against climate change effects during the CSOs roundtable discussions coordinated by Mr. Pius Oko; There should be climate change influencers from the entertainment industry and political sphere (Climate Change Act Champions). State and local government communities should be sensitized from time to time on climate change and them Climate Change Act. Media partnership should be engaged. Formation of CSO-private sector partnerships. Even and meaningful participation of women and youth in all dialogues leading to implementation of the Climate Change Act should be encouraged. Advocate for 1% of total earnings from government sector to be driven to the climate change fund. Get traditional rulers to be climate change champions. Concentrate on the sub-national/state level, establish and strengthen community forest management and conservation. Provide alternative sources of livelihood and energy. Simplify the climate change act into local dialects for better understanding. Practice domestication approach of some wild animals. Provide contextual solutions to climate change problems that are peculiar to us. Advocacy to political parties with components of climate change to their manifestos. Train the trainers to the candidates. Courtesy visits to politicians and parties. Charter of demand to on climate change to aspiring candidates and political position holders. Use of video clips and info graphics as media engagement tools. Climate changed questions should be embedded in debates of political aspirants. Engage editors in media houses via training to foster matters regarding climate change. Various hash tag suggestions were also made,
Nigeria Climate/Biodiversity Advocates and Chevening Scholars Dialogue with Prof Partha Dasgupta
Nigeria Climate/Biodiversity Advocates and Chevening Scholars Dialogue with Prof Partha Dasgupta Theme: Biodiversity Policies and Economic Growth; the role of advocacy. Ogranised by the British High Commission on May 17, 2022 x-raying his boon on The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review, Prof Partha Dasgupta stated that we are totally dependent upon the natural world. It supplies us with every oxygen-laden breath we take and every mouthful of food we eat. But we are currently damaging it so profoundly that many of its natural systems are now on the verge of breakdown. Today, we are now so mechanically ingenious that we are able to destroy a rainforest, the most species-rich ecosystem that has ever existed, and replace it with plantations of a single species in order to feed burgeoning human populations on the other side of the world. No single species in the whole history of life has ever been so successful or so dominant. Plundering every corner of the world, apparently neither knowing nor caring what the consequences might be. Each nation is doing so within its own territories. Those with lands bordering the sea fish not only in their offshore waters but in parts of the ocean so far from land that no single nation can claim them. So now we are stripping every part of both the land and the sea in order to feed our ever-increasing numbers But consider the following facts. Today, we ourselves, together with the livestock we rear for food, constitute 96% of the mass of all mammals on the planet. Only 4% is everything else – from elephants to badgers, from moose to monkeys. And 70% of all birds alive at this moment are poultry – mostly chickens for us to eat. We are destroying biodiversity, the very characteristic that until recently enabled the natural world to flourish so abundantly. If we continue this damage, whole ecosystems will collapse. That is now a real risk. Putting things right will take collaborative action by every nation on earth. It will require international agreements to change our ways. Each ecosystem has its own vulnerabilities and requires its own solutions. There has to be a universally shared understanding of how these systems work, and how those that have been damaged can be brought back to health. This comprehensive, detailed and immensely important report is grounded in that understanding. It explains how we have come to create these problems and the actions we must take to solve them. It then provides a map for navigating a path towards the restoration of our planet’s biodiversity. Economics is a discipline that shapes decisions of the utmost consequence, and so matters to us all. The Dasgupta Review at last puts biodiversity at its core and provides the compass that we urgently need. In doing so, it shows us how, by bringing economics and ecology together, we can help save the natural world at what may be the last minute – and in doing so, save ourselves. This was followed by a Panel Discussion on Understanding and Evaluating the Economics of Nigeria’s Biodiversity Led by ~Prof Partha Dasgupta – FRS FBA, is an Indian-British economist who is the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge, and Visiting Professor at the New College of the Humanities, London. ~Pius OKO, Head of Programs and Research, Lift Humanity Foundation and Project Lead at African Coalition for Sustainable Energy Access (ACSEA) Project of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) ~ Chinma George, Chief Executive Officer ClimFinancing Consulting ~ Seyifunmi Adebote is a leading environmental actor leading youth engagements across Nigeria and contributing significantly to youth inclusiveness in the UN, World Bank and other diplomatic institutions. He is the host of Climate Talk Podcast Amb. Richard Abubakar Umar, Founder Youth Voyage of Nigeria, an Environmental Activist, Greenprenure SDGs advocate and a Commuinty driver