Climate hazards: FG REITERATES COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENT SUSTAINABILITY

By AKOR SYLVESTER-Abuja

As the issue of climate change continue to post serious threat to the country and the world at large, the federal government has reinstated its readiness to tackle the menace in order to sustain the environment.

The minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, who dropped the hint at the opening ceremony of the “16th National Council on Environment” in Abuja yesterday said the climate hazards which is evidenced by bad weather, heat and others have caused a lot of damages to the society.

He said his ministry would work with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the impact of the hazards is minimised for a sustainable friendly environment.

The minister who was represented at the event by the permanent secretary, Hassan Musa, said “Our theme for this important event , “Pursuit of Zero emission; a new trajectory towards global environment renaissance” has been carefully chosen to reflect the reality of what seems to be an unnecessary hype by a lay man yet with fundamental consequences already routing our communities at such a catastrophic dimension that the continuous confortable existence of humanity is already been threatened.

“This has necessitated a wakeup call for action world over for conscientious efforts towards pursuing a systematic and continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emission until a possible achievement of a NetZero emission in the world is achieved”.

Continuing, the minister said: “Evidenced by the extreme weather conditions around the world, increasing natural disasters such as heat wave, flooding, unabated desert encroachment occasioned by long time of drought, loss of forest cover and fresh water leading to acute imbalances in the ecosystem, explosion of weather related diseases, human crises as a result of migration of herders in the course of struggle for survival on the left over of natural base of life, this pursuit is a noble choice and suffice to say that the world have no option in this circumstance if the world would be kept habitable for us and the unborn generations”

He informed that the government is not only fully committed to the ideals of good governance but very mindful of the goals of environmental sustainability, a major objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“As there is a global consensus that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of the extreme weather and climate events that are affecting us all.

“However, our reliance on climate-sensitive natural resources and development gaps are at the greatest risk of climate hazards.

“It is well established that if left unattended, climate hazards will increase poverty, worsen inequalities, exacerbate food insecurity and cause health problems, amongst others”.

The minister said the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a testimony to the global commitment to building climate change resilience for sustainable development by addressing all major forces that exacerbate the gradually evolving damning challenges, as according to him, efforts are made towards ensuring that all production forces are preserved and resources resilience is built for sustainable national development.

He maintained that “It is for this purpose that this gathering is of immense significance. we are poised to expand the landscape of reasoning and generated policy frameworks capable of confronting these emerging menaces frontally.

The minister charged the participant to seize the opportunity to jointly address the issues through the submitted memoranda and other matters that may arise in the course of the engagement.

He hoped for a robust engagement to the end that we will be able to secure the environment, grow the economies and have a habitable world for all.