- The President, Mohammadu Buhari inaugurates the Council on Climate Change.
- He reaffirmed His administration’s commitment to responding to climate change.
As part of the formalities to commence the implementation of the climate change act of 2021 and to increase climate change response across the country, The President, Mohammadu Buhari, on Wednesday inaugurated the Council on Climate Change. He pointed out that climate change is one of the biggest global challenges with its imminent impact resulting in heat waves, wildfires, rising sea levels, desertification and increasing floods worldwide.
The National Council on Climate Change is responsible for formulating and implementing policies that bring the country closer to achieving its set climate goals and promoting sustainable development. Therefore, The President directed the minister of environment, minister of justice and the attorney general to make changes to parts of the act that deal with implementation challenges. The council will be responsible for formulating policies to actualize low greenhouse emissions and harmonizing all climate-related issues, energy transition plans, carbon trading frameworks, etc., towards actualizing Nigeria’s climate change goals.
The President will serve as the council’s chairman and the vice-president’s vice chairman. Mr Salisu Dahiru, the director general of the national council on climate change, will serve as the secretary. The council members include Ministers of Power, Women affairs, Environment, Petroleum resources, budget and national planning, Justice, Agriculture and rural development, Representatives of National youth congress, members of the national governor forum, and presidents of the association of local government of Nigeria.
The working report from the intergovernmental panel on climate change showed that greenhouse gases could strip communities of their ability to adapt to climate change and the time to spare the communities from the impact of climate change. Although The President acknowledged the recent havoc wrecked by flood on lives and infrastructure, He reaffirmed His administration’s commitment to responding to climate change and increasing the implementation of actions that will lessen the effect of climate change on the Nigerian economy and Nigerians.