By Ojugbele Omotunde
Due to the fact that the world community has accepted the impact of climate change on both the environment and humankin. Therefore, climate change is one of the dominant topics globally among world leaders, environment scholars and activists.
Antarctica is melting at a rate never before seen in human history—150 billion tons per year. While the erosion in southern Nigeria has gotten worse, wildfires are rife in some parts of the United States.
Heat waves in Europe and some areas of Asia, along with flooding in India, now seem usual due to desertification progressing quickly in the northern region.
Lake Chad, which was formerly thought to be larger than Israel, El Salvador, or Massachusetts, is now about 2,500 km³.
The grasslands are vanishing. There is no denying these or the many others that the climate is retaliating against millions of years of human misuse.
Human activities have continued to endanger the environment through industrialization, careless use of environmentally unfriendly fuels, tree-cutting, and bush-burning.
Environmental strain grows as the world’s population rises and energy use rises.
With the globe on the verge of an environmental catastrophe, international leaders have made the decision to resist climate change-causing actions.
These initiatives might take the form of restorative actions, like reforestation in deforested areas of the world, or preventive ones, like sensitization campaigns.
Leaders from throughout the world have also signed accords, protocols, and conventions to show how concerned they are about preserving the globe.
Some of these include the Kyoto Protocol from 1997, which aims to lower greenhouse gas levels and carbon dioxide emissions.
It is based on the idea that industrialized countries had to reduce their CO2 emissions.
The Paris Climate Agreement, which took the role of the Kyoto Protocol in 2015, contains pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions from all major emitters of GHGs. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Vienna Convention, and the Bonn Convention are the others.
Nigeria hasn’t done enough to domesticate these norms up until recently because the National Assembly failed to adopt the required measures multiple times. Even when the parliamentarians successfully passed one of the laws, Goodluck Jonathan, the president at the time, chose not to sign it.
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Nevertheless, the bill was reintroduced in the 8th National Assembly by Rep. Sam Onuigbo, who was the House Committee on Climate Change’s Chairman at the time.
The 9th National Assembly ultimately passed the bill as a result of his tenacity, connections, and lobbying. President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Climate Change Act (2021) into law on November 18, 2021.
“Tackling the effects of climate change on our society required action on our part. Nigeria cannot afford to go in a different way from the rest of the world. I knew six springs when I was a child in the hamlet, but as I speak to you today, five of them have dried up.
“This is an existential issue that, if left unchecked, will lead to more complicated issues down the road,” Onuigbo stated when asked what motivated him to take on the Climate Change Bill challenge.
Onuigbo urged for an urgent transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy, while also expressing optimism that the National Climate Change Council’s interministerial structure will enable it to fulfill its goal.
“This conflict began in the sixth assembly and continued until my arrival in the eighth assembly. Thankfully, we succeeded in finishing the task and President Muhammadu Buhari was able to sign the legislation after much wrangling. Onuigbo expressed his confidence that the Council, with its current makeup and leadership, would successfully carry out this significant national task.
The principal objective of the Act is to devise and execute strategies that will promote reduced carbon emissions and cultivate a sustainable ecosystem inside the nation.
The National Council on Climate Change is established by the Act, which is now well known as the “Sam Onuigbo Climate Change Act.”
The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who has the authority to formulate policies and make decisions on any issue pertaining to climate change in Nigeria, chairs the Council.
It describes the MDAs’, public organizations’, and private organizations’ responsibilities with regard to climate change, including their need to follow the Action Plan and carbon budgets and the annual targets for reducing carbon emissions.
The “Sam Onuigbo” Climate Change Act mandates MDAs to establish a climate change desk and penalizes individuals, private or public, for negatively affecting mitigation and adaptation efforts, attracting support from activists and experts.
According to academic and environmental activist Prof. Ubom Bassey who works at the University of Abuja’s Department of Science and Environmental Education : the future of Nigeria’s environmental resources depends on the Act’s effective implementation.
He applauded Onuigbo’s perseverance in advancing the Bill and urged the Council to see to its easy execution.
In a same vein, Prof. Anthony Kola-Olusanya, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic, Research, Innovation, and Partnerships at Osun State University, stated at his 14th Inaugural Lecture that it was time for teamwork to combat climate change.
“The world remains anxious about our unsustainable economic production techniques and development endeavors, especially with regard to the extent to which the planet can withstand our persistent mistreatment.
“More income and better environmental decisions can only be attained through improvements in education and healthcare—sustainable development is a societal challenge, not just an environmental one,” he stated.
