By Yemi Olakitan
Today in Egypt is the beginning of the United Nations conference on climate change in 2022. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which firmly guaranteed the place of climate change on the global agenda, was adopted 30 years ago during this conference. The Conference of Parties (COP), the highest governing body of the UN climate change agreement, is holding its 27th annual meeting in Egypt, and is commonly referred to as COP27.
These yearly gatherings are intended to track the fulfilment of climate commitments, establish new agendas, and strengthen existing agreements on how to limit global warming and lessen its catastrophic effects on people and the environment.
High-level representatives from the 197 nations that ratified the agreement in 1992, such as presidents and prime ministers, as well as accredited observers frequently attend.
The annual COP is the most important conference on the most important problem at hand, even when it can become a little rowdy and progress can be hard to gauge.
Also known as the African COP, COP27. This is not just because it is the first time the conference has been held in Africa, but also because it is anticipated that this gathering would bring much-needed attention to Africa’s unique climate vulnerability and demands.
Although Sub-Saharan Africa contributes only 3.8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions (as opposed to 23% for China and 19% for the United States of America), the continent suffers disproportionately from the effects of climate change and lacks the resources to implement the necessary mitigation and adaptation measures.
The pledges of wealthy western nations, their businesses, and activists on energy transition are also likely to undermine Africa’s low development outcomes.
To negotiate an equitable and just energy transition and get support to effectively handle the problems of climate change, Africa requires a loud voice and coordinated action.
Nigeria should typically be able to convince Egyptians of the importance of the country and the continent in general. However, if the preparation for the meeting and the calibre of representation there are any signs, this is unlikely to occur.
It’s interesting how certain events have defined Nigeria’s participation at COP27, forcing it to not only take climate change more seriously but also to become one of the most outspoken climate supporters.
Related Posts
First, a horrific flood that has hit 33 of the 36 states of the union, claimed at least 600 lives, and affected more than 2.5 million people is currently raging. Although the entire economic damages have not yet been determined, they may be comparable to or even exceed the N2.6 trillion incurred by the 2012 countrywide flooding.
Additionally, there is the risk for water-borne illnesses, crop failure, and higher food prices. Countrywide flooding is largely a result of changing weather patterns. The floods and their effects are anticipated to worsen over time.
The second significant phenomenon is the rise of seemingly unsolvable disputes in Nigeria, some of which are climatically connected. The struggles over land and water, which are more valuable but dwindling resources due in part to desert expansion, are at the basis of the confrontations between farmers and herders and the ensuing insecurity in the North Central and the North West.
Because of the livelihood problem brought on by the Lake Chad’s 90% decline over the course of 50 years, extreme Islam and terrorism became more appealing in Borno State and other North Eastern regions.
Analysis makes it obvious that one of the main causes of Nigeria’s rising insecurity is climate change.
The third development is how Nigeria’s objectives for development and government income are likely to suffer as a result of the prevalent narrative on the energy transition.
The Nigerian government will eventually be able to earn less money from taxes and sales of oil and gas as we move away from fossil fuels.
Given that more than 70% of Nigeria’s exports still come from the oil and gas industry, it will also have an effect on the influx of foreign currency.
More pernicious, though, is the prohibition on investing in gas, which, despite being cleaner than coal and oil, is nonetheless categorized as a filthy energy source. Reduced gas investment will cost Nigeria vital money and impair its ability to utilize its plentiful gas to provide energy for household, industrial, and technological requirements.
Nigeria should be one of the loudest voices in the climate change debate, not just in Africa but worldwide, for these and other reasons. For us, climate change is not a theoretical idea, an intellectual exercise, or a hypothetical problem. It is existential, it is in the present, and it will probably become worse.
The discussion of climate reparation is the final problem. There is a strong argument that industrialized nations, which historically have been the greatest emitters of greenhouse gases, should pay the least emitting and most susceptible nations for the harm and loss caused by global warming.
