Nigerians have high hopes for the Conference of Parties (COP) 27 being held in Egypt and are expecting world leaders and other key stakeholders to put in place proactive measures and solution-driven strategies to tackle the effects of the global climate change crisis.
COP 27 began on Sunday, November 6, and ends on Friday, November 18. It is being held at Sharm el-Sheikh.
The United Nations Climate Change agency said many heads of state and other key stakeholders from countries around the world were meeting to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals as agreed under the Paris Agreement and the Convention.
They planned to build on the outcomes and momentum of COP 26 in Glascow last year.
“Nations are expected to demonstrate at COP 27 that they are in a new era of implementation by turning their commitments into action.
Egypt’s foreign minister and this year’s COP president, Sameh Shoukry, said before the start of the conference: “COP 27 creates a unique opportunity for the world to come together, mend multilateralism, rebuild trust and unite at the highest political levels to address climate change – with more than 100 heads of states and governments joining the summit, let us take advantage of what COP 27 can offer as we have no time to lose.
“With this in mind, it was only logical that COP 27 unofficially be labelled ‘the Implementation COP’. This means full and faithful implementation … to keep the temperature goal within reach and avert further negative impacts. It further means pursuing a transformative action agenda aimed at moving from pledges to actions on the ground.”
Shoukry said the climate crisis needed dedicated efforts by all, from heads of states and governments to young climate activists and advocates, from multinationals and major stakeholders to small community groups at local level. The magnitude of the climate challenge required an inclusive partnership and collaboration among all stakeholders to implement and deliver the actions.
Residents of Maiduguri in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, said they were optimistic that at the end of the COP 27 summit, the world’s leaders would have come up with solution-driven strategies to curb the menace of the climate change crisis by implementing proactive measures.
Yunusa Husaini, a resident, told RNI that he hoped and expected the world leaders gathered at the summit, especially those from Europe, Asia and the US, to swing into action by implementing all the necessary measures needed to combat the climate change crisis.
“We expect the world leaders from developed countries to pledge to support the African continent in tackling the crisis.”
He said African leaders, too, needed to come up with their own strategies and measures, such as the massive plantation of trees campaign, to help curb climate change. Africa needed help and support to make it less dependent on developed countries.
“I do not know what other states are doing but Borno has started a massive campaign to plant trees in some nearby forests. But a major problem is that the government has not employed people to take care of the trees by watering them. The government must be serious about this because once these trees are fully grown they will benefit and protect both animals and humans.
“Even though some African countries are very serious and committed to fighting climate change, others are not at all serious about it. It’s high time for all Africans to collectively fight climate change.”
Lawan Abba Aji said: “My hope and expectations are that by the end of the COP 27 summit, the governments from developed countries will support and help the African continent to combat climate change. We are also optimistic that the African countries, especially Nigeria as the giant of Africa, will consolidate and implement the actions taken by developed countries.
Aji said he knew the Nigerian government was trying its best to fight climate change. One example of this was that it had collaborated with international non-governmental organisations (iNGOs) to launch the 20-million tree-planting campaign. This had already started in some forests across the local government areas of Borno State.
“We urge the government to continue on this pathway to ensure that people and nature are protected against the climate change crisis,” he said.
“There have been many summits about the issue of climate change held in the past but this one is special because it is focusing more on implementation and action to curb the crisis,” said Babagana Shettima.
“It’s evident that the African continent has already been and is continuing to be woefully hit by climate change. Now that COP is being held in Egypt – an African country – we hope developed countries across the world will help and support our continent financially, economically, socially and/or politically to curb the menace of climate change crisis throughout the continent.”
Shettima said that if countries from Europe and other parts of the developed world provided financial aid to African countries, they should follow up to check the countries were using the money for what it was intended.
“Some African countries are very corrupt and they might divert the financial aid for their own selfish interests,” Shettima warned.
Mohammed Husaini, an environmental and natural resources expert, told RNI that Africans had faced so many challenges related to the climate change crisis, whether directly or indirectly, because of their lack of commitment to fight climate change.
“All eyes are now focused on the COP summit. The whole world wants leaders and other stakeholders – particularly those involved in energy and industry, as well as those countries that are contributing the most to global warming through gas emissions – to see the implementation of the commitments made under the Paris Agreement. Climate change issues have been raised at previous COP summits. Now is the time for implementation.
“However, the actions and implementation we are all clamouring for will be difficult if there is a lack of political will and commitment from world leaders as has happened previously at climate change summits which basically resulted in empty promises.”
Husaini emphasised the need for African countries to come up with their own strategic measures and to unite in the fight to curb climate change throughout the continent.
“And Nigeria, as the giant of Africa, should take charge and lead by establishing policies and measures centred on combating the crisis, so that other African countries will follow suit and adopt the established policies and measures. The trouble is that no African country has taken the lead in the fight against climate change and this has resulted in the continent being one of the worst hit by the crisis. This is particularly evident in the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel regions.
“Nigeria is one of countries worst hit by climate change in the West African sub-region. And the northeast of the country has been one of the worst affected out of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. Borno State is one of the states most affected. This can be seen in most local government areas and in some parts of central Borno.
“For instance, when I was travelling to northern Borno, I was horribly surprised to see how many local people were cutting down trees. Many of them have probably not even heard about climate change, let alone the dangers it is causing. It is imperative for the government to create more awareness among rural dwellers about its effects.”
Husaini said he hoped that at the end of the summit world leaders from developed countries in Europe, Asia and the US would support the developing countries of Africa so that collectively they could combat further climate change.
“The fight against further climate change has to be a collective effort. If we don’t join hands and fight together, the consequences of the crisis will be even worse. If it continues as it is, in the next 10 years islands might vanish, aquatic plants and creatures will die, many wild animals and birds might become extinct and people might have to migrate in an attempt to avoid widespread diseases, excessive flooding and vicious wildfires. Poverty and famine will be much worse than it already is. We all need to act now, immediately, to save our beloved planet,” he said.
SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO
