Nigeria is one of the hotspots of the climate crisis bedevilling countries in Africa, Central and South America and parts of Asia, a recent sixth assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has revealed.
Three hundred and thirty scientists across the world, from 66 countries, authored the report.
The scientists confirmed that tackling climate impact is a matter of climate and social justice and requires prioritizing women, children, the elderly, indigenous people, low-income households, socially marginalized groups and most vulnerable countries.
Analysing the report during a media roundtable at the weekend, Executive Director of Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), Michael David Ternungwa, said food and water security, extreme weather disasters, the decline in people’s physical and mental health, premature deaths, as well as species loss and extinction were examples of the challenges that many Nigerians will experience.
He warned that the incidents are expected to increase if urgent actions were not taken to reduce emissions and minimize their damage.
Ternungwa warned: “Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a loveable and sustainable future for all.”
He insisted that Nigeria needed climate justice from the international community.
“The international community must give Nigeria money. Past promises are not fulfilled but we need to adapt, we need resilience. And it is with this money that we can do energy transition, it is with this money that we can practice smart agriculture.
“We also need technology to be able to develop early warning systems and every community needs a risk register to be able to adapt. So we need climate justice, equity and climate finance to build resilience,” he added.
Also, the Director, Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Abuja, Prof. Shu’aibu Hassan, said climate change has impacted the people’s health and environment negatively.
He, however, urged all stakeholders to deploy effective measures to address climate change impact.
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