The ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has urged the federal government and the African Union (AU) to push for the revatilisation of the continuous shrinking Lake Chad, which is expected to cost $30bn to $40bn.
The AAN Country Director, Andrew Mamedu, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at the National Dialogue and Pre-COP 29 meeting, organised by AAN and Women Environmental Programme (WEP).
Daily Trust reports that the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 29) taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11-22 November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Mamedu said that the dialogue was to harmonise climate change advocacy issues, particularly those affecting women and young people in Nigeria, ahead of regional engagement at COP 29.
He said that the biggest effects of climate change is the environmental degradation in the Niger Delta to oil pollution; and the shrinking of the Lake Chad, which has shrunk by at least 90 per cent and having adverse effects on over 20m people, particularly women and children into poverty, especially in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
“Climate change does not discriminate. It impacts us all, across race, gender, age, and geography. Yet, those least responsible for the crisis, our women, youth, and vulnerable communities, are often the most affected.
“Despite the magnitude of this challenge, we see that commitments from key actors, including governments and the private sector, fall far short of what is needed to protect our environment and safeguard our future.
“We at ActionAid, have recognized the urgency of this moment. Through our Global Climate Change Programme, we launched the ‘Fund Our Future’ campaign to demand stronger climate financing and more equitable solutions.
“The stakes are especially high in Africa, where the median age is 19, making our youth not just the leaders of tomorrow, but the key drivers of today’s climate solutions. Promoting youth and women-led initiatives is essential to ensuring that our actions are sustainable and impactful.
“Recharging the Lake Chad, estimated to cost $30bn to $40bn, would at least lift 20m people out of poverty. Imagine lifting 5m let alone 20m people out of poverty, would be so significant and go a long way to help the women and children,” Mamedu said.
On her part, Executive Director WEP, Dr. Pricilla Achakpa, said that negotiations for the COP meetings are not during the meetings, but that the agenda has always been set before the programme, thus the difficulty of influencing the agenda at COP.
“There are a lot of processes that you get to for influencing, right now if we say that you are going to influence anything, I will tell you sorry the agenda has already been set so there is little or nothing you can do.
“As a negotiator once we come back and the country is preparing, that is when you are going to start engaging. You don’t start engaging when you are going to, when the COP is already set. There are processes and steps that each and every one of us as civil society organizations must know when it comes to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNCCC).
“UNCCC is very unique. First you have to have the Nigerian position even before you start talking about anything, and that is where Nigeria is doing the preparatory meetings. That is where we can influence. The second one is at the ECOWAS level because Nigeria position will fit into the ECOWAS position and the ECOWAS position we fit into the African group of negotiators position, which will now be pushed as African position,” she said.
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