COP27: Environmental activists gear up for National Conference on Climate Change in Abuja

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

Frontline community activists, local and international civil society groups, development experts and government representatives will converge in Abuja on 29 and 30 September 2022 for the National Conference on Climate Change.

The conference which is organised by the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) is coming a month away from the COP27 scheduled for Egypt in November.

It will also draw on the expertise of participants who will interrogate Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions and Nigeria’s Climate Change Act 2021 and build consensus on the need for adequate climate financing for the implementation of adaptation and mitigation plans in Nigeria and Africa.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by Philip Jakpor, CAPPA Director of Programmes, the conference is intended to enrich the existing pool of information and resources needed to upscale inclusive climate change programming in Nigeria and by extension Africa.

Jakpor explained that the discussions will be robust as the conference participants are drawn from the diverse spectrum that is relevant to articulating a common climate change agenda for COP 27 with emphasis on just energy transition.

Special guest at the conference is Nigeria’s vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo while the keynote address on Nigeria, COP27 and The Quest for Real Solutions will be delivered by Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, former chair of Friends of the Earth International, and current Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF).

The Panel session will include topics such as Highlights of Nigeria’s Climate Response Policy Environment, Nigeria 2021 NDC, the Facts and the Fallouts, Pushing Back Fossil Fuels and False Solutions: Pathway to a Just Transition for Africa, Ukraine, Russia War and Renewed Scramble for Oil in Africa, and Unmasking Carbon Politics and Carbon Economy, among others. Civil society participants will also issue a communique at the end of the conference.

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) is a Pan- African organisation that works to advance human rights, challenge corporate abuse of natural resources and build community power for inclusive development and participatory governance.