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A coalition of civil society organisations on environment and climate change has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately implement the Climate Change Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari since November 2021.

The group, in a petition signed by 64 CSO and NGO leaders and submitted to the relevant government agencies, expressed dismay over the delay by the government in implementing the core provisions of the Act which, according to them, would set the country on the right trajectory in meeting the 2060 net zero target.

According to the coalition, “we are gravely worried that after eight months of signing the Climate Change Act into law, no action has been taken to implement the different provisions of the Act”.

The coalition, however, thanked the President for showing commitment to providing a solid framework for climate action to achieve Nigeria’s short-, medium-, and long-term goals on climate mitigation and adaptation through the signing of the bill into a full Act.

“We, the undersigned civil society organisations and individuals appreciate and commend the President for signing into law the Climate Change Act which has demonstrated his commitment to providing a solid framework for climate action to achieve Nigeria’s short-, medium-, and long-term goals on climate mitigation and adaptation,” the coalition submitted.

It reminded the government that the continuous delay in implementation, especially when some core provisions of the Act are time-bound, would stall the progress the country had made in tackling effects of climate change and all the policies developed to mitigate climate change in Nigeria and across the globe.

The group went further: “We wish to alert Mr President that the government is now almost certain to default on some of the provisions of the Climate Act. The signing of the Act into law automatically triggered Section 19(2) of the Act which mandates that the Federal Ministry of Environment in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning must present the pilot carbon budget to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) through the National Council on Climate Change not later than one year from the date of assent to the Bill. That, automatically, means that the pilot carbon budget must be presented on or before November 16, 2022.

“The Federal Ministry of Environment and the Secretariat are also mandated by Section 20 to develop the five-yearly Action Plan for the realisation of the carbon budget. Section 20(2) mandates that the first Action Plan must be ready within one year of assent to the Bill. It is important to note that Section 20(3) mandates that, before the Action Plan is presented to the Council and FEC, it must be made public for eight weeks (culminating 14 days before the date of presentation to the Council) for the public to review.

“Given the long and thorough process needed to decide a carbon budget including through national consultation with the CSO and other stakeholders, we are concerned that the Federal government may fail to set a carbon budget by the date required by the new climate law.

“It seems that the government and its relevant agencies and ministries have abandoned the implementation of the key provisions of the Act. We are worried at the lack of action by the Federal government to implement a law it signed in good faith.”

The coalition warned that the attitude of the government so far in implementing the Climate Change Act will further damage the image of the country in the international arena and more so in climate change community and called on the government to act fast to save the government and the country from impending embarrassment as the COP27 to be hosted in Africa, Egypt is fast approaching.

“This unfortunate event carries the risk of portraying Nigeria as unserious before the international community and a country that makes a pledge without an intention to keep its words.

“A lack of implementation of the climate act will surely damage the image of the country at the global arena, especially as the build up to COP27 in Africa has commenced.

“By maintaining aloof and not acting quickly to implement the Climate Change Act, other countries will make mockery of Nigeria and some may begin to review or withdraw their climate support for Nigeria.

“In these days of climate change struggle, the Nigerian government and relevant ministries and agencies are more than ever needed to act to save our country from the further devastations of climate change. A stitch in time saves nine,” added the group.

During a recent virtual workshop for CSOs and NGOs leaders titled “Understanding and Implementation of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act: Implications for Nigeria’s Net Zero Target” organised by the Society for Planet Prosperity in collaboration with the Centre for Climate Change and Development Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike (CCCD AEFUNAI) and Global Environmental and Climate Conservation Initiative (GECCI), the CSO leaders advocated for the immediate implementation of the Climate Change Act by the government to save the country from further consequences of climate change.

By Chinedu Jude Nwasum

Civil Society Organizations in the country have condemned the non-implementation of provisions of the Climate Change Act 2021 by Nigeria’s Federal Government.

They expressed dismay at the lack of actions in activating the core provisions of the act, eight months after it was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The leaders of Civil Society Organisations and other experts in climate change sector therefore demanded for immediate implementation of the act by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

According to them, this is to ensure that the country achieve its 2060 net zero ambition and reduce the devastating effects of climate change across  the country.

The Civil Society Organisation leaders made the call on at the weekend during a workshop with the theme “Understanding and Implementation of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act: Implications for Nigeria’s Net Zero Target”.

The virtual workshop was organized by the Society for Planet Prosperity in collaboration with the Centre for Climate Change and Development Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike (CCCD AEFUNAI) and Global Environmental and Climate Conservation Initiative (GECCI).

The CSOs leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s inability to implement the content of the climate change act which had been signed into law since November, 2021.

They wondered what could be the cause for the delay in constituting and setting up the National Council on Climate Change to champion climate action as captured in the Act.

They noted that the continued delay in the implementation of climate change would portray the image of the country bad in the international arena and also give the impression of unseriousness to the issue of climate change mitigation.

Speaking during the virtual event, a member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North and South Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives and the sponsor of the Climate Change bill before it was passed into law in 2021, Hon. Sam Onuigbo narrated how the devastating effect of climate change in his community spurred him into initiating and sponsoring the climate change bill.

He stressed that if government further delays in implementing the climate change act, it would be setting the country up for more devastating effects of climate change such as flooding and desertification

He argued that the majority of the communal and land clashes in the country were orchestrated by the effect of climate change.

“Lack of implementation of the Climate Change Act is exacerbating the insecurity challenges in the country. The Federal Government ought to have inaugurated the council before now, so as to demand a report from the Director General of the Council”, he said

Hon. Onuigbo therefore called on the federal government to immediately set the ball rolling by constituting the National Council on Climate Change which would pilot the implementation of the act, if the country can achieve the 2060 net zero projections.

In his presentation, titled “Nigeria’s Climate Change Act (CCA), 2021”, the Director of Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), Mr. Nnaemeka Oruh, stressed that the Act was made to address climate issues in the country and called for all hands to be on deck to ensure full implementation of the Act.

He called on the relevant government agencies to work fast and ensure the proper implementation of the Act.

In another presentation on the “role of CSOs in implementing and monitoring Nigeria’s CCA”, Barr. Nkiruka Stella Okonkwo – CEO/Founder, Fresh & Young Brains Development Initiative (FBIN)/Alexijan Consults, explored the role of civil society organisations in implementing and monitoring Nigeria’s CCA.

She advocated for CSOs desks in all relevant MDAs and the Council Secretariat as it would assist in ensuring that the CCA is fully implemented.

Barr. Nkiruka also called for a National CSOs conference on Nigeria’s CCA to provide a platform for all CSOs to collaborate and engage in the implementation and monitoring of the CCA.

The virtual workshop, which was attended by about 60 CSOs, was moderated by Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, the Executive Director, Society of Planet Prosperity and Director, Centre for Climate Change and Development Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike.

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our age. Nigeria is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and this situation calls for an urgent action to reduce the impact of climate change and ensure that the environment continues to benefit present and future generations.

President Buhari did a good thing at COP26 when he announced that Nigeria will seek to achieve net zero emission by 2060. He also did well when he signed the Climate Change Bill into law after the COP26. However, since then, nothing has been done to implement the Climate Change Act even though the government goes about receiving praises from all over the world for doing a great job in establishing a climate change law.

Therefore, the Global Environmental and Climate Conservation Initiative (GECCI) is joining forces with the Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) to educate the Nigerian CSOs on the importance of the Nigerian Climate Act and to moblise CSO leaders to call for the immediate implementation of the Act.

For the past 10 years, GECCI has been actively involved in creating awareness, engaging the Nigerian youths in the sensitisation and mobilisation of the public on the imperatives of positive actions to reverse environmental pollution and global climate change towards achieving a net zero.

Through our community initiative project (which has spread throughout the country in the 36 states of the Federation), we have made significant contributions to creating awareness of climate and environmental change in Nigeria mostly among the Nigerian youths.

We were hoping that the implementation of the net zero target announced by the President during COP26 in Glasgow and the signing of the Climate Chance Act which followed, will help to inspire Nigerian youths, and demonstrate that the government is serious in tackling climate change to protect the earth for future generations.

The Climate Act provides for the establishment of climate coordinators in six regions and 36 states of the country. GECCI believes that this is a good development which will help to ensure the effective mobilisation of CSOs, NGOs, and youths across Nigeria’s six regions to achieve the noble goals of the Nigeria Climate Change Act.

We believe that this will also help to raise public awareness of the Climate Change Act throughout Nigeria to inspire a global popular movement to bring about this urgent implementation. The next phase we saw was grassroots advocacy, sensitisation, and mobilisation of people in the rural communities through town hall meetings, dialogues, core theatre presentations, and focus group discussions.

At the same time, we were excited that the Climate Change Act wanted to facilitate the involvement of the youth and Nigeria’s civil society organisations in the governance of climate change. The Act says that the President will appoint a representative of environment-related civil society organizsations (CSOs) on the recommendation of the Minister responsible for Environment, and the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change will serve as Secretary. It also expected that the Act will help the education and training of CBOs, FBOs, NGOs, networks, and groups across the six geopolitical zones on the importance of implementing the Climate Change Act.

Finally, we believe that, working under the Secretariat to the National Council on Climate Change, the government will be able to improve the much-desired synergies in implementation of climate change in the country through the promotion of common understanding of the issues, coordination, and sharing of ideas among the various ministries and agencies.

The youth is not happy that several months since the net zero target was announced and climate bill was signed into law, the government has been muted about implementing the law. We are asking, is this another the more you look, the less you see? What is going on? Why should a government sign a bill into law and not put in place urgently measures to implement the law? If the law was not considered important, why was it signed into law in the first place. We are wondering, who are the ones in government that do not want the law to be implemented? What are their reasons?

It is said that it is better to be late than never. Although the government has lots a lot of time, we are calling on the government to implement the climate act without any further delay. Doing so will be good for the country and help to protect our environment and economy from the negative impacts of climate change.

By Abdulhamid Tahir Hamid, Chief Executive Officer, Global Environmental and Climate Conservation Initiative (GECCI)

The Society for Planet Prosperity (SPP), in collaboration with the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike (AE-FUNAI) Centre for Climate Change and Development (CCCD) and Global Environmental and Climate Conservation Initiative (GECCI), is hosting a virtual workshop for stakeholders in the environment and climate change sector.

The virtual workshop, entitled “Understanding and Implementation of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act: Implications for Nigeria’s Net Zero Target”, is aimed at engaging the leaders of civil society and non-governmental organisations in the country.

The aim of the workshop is to gain knowledge, share ideas and provide insights on the role and involvement of CSOs in implementing the core provisions of the Nigeria Climate Change Act and open conversations on how to ensure public understanding of the climate change law.

Speaking on the upcoming workshop, the Chair of Society for Planet Prosperity and Director, CCCD AEFUNAI, Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, said that the forthcoming virtual workshop would bring together leaders of about 50 CSOs and NGOs to discuss on how to assist the government in implementing the core provisions of the Climate Change Act and increase public awareness of the climate change law.

He stated that the workshop would bring together the leaders to inform and analyse the Act, to aid better understanding, as well as to examine the state of affairs since the passing of the Climate Change Act. According to Professor Okereke, the event would generate ideas that the CSOs and the Nigerian Government could use to increase public awareness and implementation of the Climate Change Act, as well as generating ideas that would be documented and submitted to appropriate and relevant government agencies for actions and implementations.

The workshop, which is scheduled hold on Thursday, July 14, 2022, will feature Barr. Nkiruka Stella Okonkwo, the CEO and founder, Fresh and Young Brains Development Initiative; Nnaemeka Oruh, Ag. National Coordinator, GLOBE as speakers, while Professor Okereke is the host and will moderate the session. The Director, Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs Iniobong Abiola-Awe, will deliver the opening remarks.

It will be recalled that, in November 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Nigeria Climate Change Act, which provides a solid framework for climate actions at the national level.

Nigeria’s 2021 Climate Change Act provides for an ambitious framework for mainstreaming climate actions in line with national development priorities and sets a net-zero target for 2050-2070.

However, despite the signing of the bill into law and the promises the provisions of the law have to coordinate and ensure climate action in Nigeria, the government and relevant stakeholders have not taken any known steps to implement the basic provisions of the Act, such as setting up the National Council on Climate Change several months after the signing of the act into law.

By Chinedu Nwasum