An environmentalist, Mr
Lekan Fadina, has advised the Federal Government to adopt less carbon-intensive pathway to mitigate the impact of climate change in the country.
Fadina told newsmen in Abuja, recently, that one of such pathways was to promote clean energy in a sustainable manner.
He said that the country should also promote efficient energy technologies and sustainable management of natural resources such as land, water and forests.
According to him, such a development would help reduce the exposure of vulnerable communities to the adverse of impact of climate change.
“It will at the same time contribute to the global greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts.’’
The expert, however, advised the Federal Government to also implement the decisions of the last Conference of Parties (COP) in Warsaw, Poland.
He said that the lesson the country could learn from attending such conferences was to implement the decisions taken at such meetings.
“Every time we attend conferences there is a new concept, new direction and new input; so implementation is key in this regard.
“ There must be funding, there must be enabling environment, we must be able to invest in research.
“Also, there must be collaboration; there must be coordination both among the ministry and other stakeholders.
“We must realise that climate change projects are our responsibility and at the end of the day, we must be part of the implementation process,’’ he said.
He said that climate change and the implications for human health deserved urgent attention.
He added that the country had experienced extreme weather events ranging from drought to changes in water supply.
According to him, the extreme weather condition is making it increasingly difficult for vulnerable rural communities to make a living.
“The major concerns include the high threat of food security and inadequate natural resources.
“It also includes diminished biodiversity, decline in human health viability, increasing land degradation, increasing desertification and coastal zone recession.,’’
Fadina, however, called on the Federal Government to address climate change issues in a holistic manner.
He stressed that establishing the Climate Change Commission would not address the problem in its totality.
“We need not only to establish the commission but to address climate change itself; we need to address it in its totality.