By Faridat Salifu
The Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Iziaq Adekule Salako, has emphasized the importance of establishing robust transparency and accountability frameworks to ensure sustainable climate action.
Salako highlighted this in his welcome address at the two-day First International Anti-Corruption and Climate Change Conference held midweek in Abuja.
The event, organized by the Human & Environmental Media Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre in partnership with Hawkmoth and supported by the MacArthur Foundation, aims to emphasize the crucial intersection of transparency, accountability, and climate action in Nigeria and beyond.
The workshop took place with a theme – “National Stakeholders’ Engagement for Accountability and Transparency in Addressing Climate Change, Energy Transition, and Oil Licensing for Sustainable Development.
Addressing participants at the workshop, the minister noted that Nigeria’s commitment to climate accountability. He said the country is gearing up to submit its first Biennial Transparency Report by the end of this year as part of the Enhanced Transparency Framework established by the Paris Agreement.
He equally disclosed that Nigeria is advocating advocates for the Glasgow Declaration Accountability Framework (GDAF) to reinforce global efforts in halting deforestation by 2030.
He highlighted the critical need for an integrated approach to confront the urgent challenges of climate change. “Transparency and accountability are essential for mobilizing societal efforts towards our common goals,” he said.
The minister underscored the importance of establishing robust transparency and accountability frameworks to ensure sustainable climate action. “We must improve decision-making processes, spending allocations, and tracking towards established climate goals,” he said.
He commended HEDA for their timely initiative in addressing these important issues describing climate change as the “defining issue of our time.
The minister referenced the urgent implications it poses to development, health, food security, biodiversity, and livelihoods, stating, “It is not merely an environmental challenge but the Everest of all problems confronting humanity,” he said.
The Minister emphasized that through the ongoing implementation of the Performance Management System (PMS), the Ministry can track progress and ensure alignment with high standards of ethics in climate action and energy transition efforts.
He concluded the address by calling on developed nations to uphold their commitments to climate funding, urging a shift from rhetoric to actionable results for developing countries that suffer the most from climate change.
Internally, the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) has been pivotal in monitoring integrity across federal ministries, promoting a culture of transparency and accountability.