Climate change no longer looming threat, now living crisis in Nigeria — Kalu

…lauds partnership with Green Climate Fund

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu has lamented the devastating effects of climate change in Nigeria, describing the menace as a living crisis.

Kalu made the submission when a delegation from the National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) led by the Director General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Nkiruka Madueke paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja on Tuesday.

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The Deputy Speaker welcomed the proposed partnership between the House and the agencies to help tackle the issue of limate change in Nigeria.

He said: “I’m happy that you are here today, which means the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a step if the first step is well taken. And starting from here, considering you as a major stakeholder in this conversation, is a step well taken, and also it is in the right direction.

“We’ll talk about climate change, national security, economic and humanitarian crises. And I would like you to have the view of the parliament as you go back, what we think about the subject matter, and the issues around it as a nation and as a parliament. So, in Nigeria today, climate change is not a looming threat, it is a living crisis. So, that is one of the things you take home; that we see it as a living crisis. Its fingerprints are visible across our economy, across our environment and in our most vulnerable communities.

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBC) that we work with, the data bank of our country, flood has affected over 4.4 million Nigerians in year 2022, alone, with more than 2.5 million people displaced as a result of this and an estimated $6.8 million in economic losses. These floods wiped out livelihood. This flood destroyed harvest. This flood displaced countless figures. So, desertification continues to encroach on about 63% of our land, particularly in the north, pouring fertile fields into dust and deepening food insecurity, because the north has always been the food basket of the nation.

“So, if it’s affected, the nation, food security is affected. We are witnessing longer, harsher drought in the north, devastating flash floods across the middle belt and rising sea levels in the Niger Delta. In the south east, where I come from, gully erosion is swallowing entire communities. In fact, the South East remains the headquarters of ecological problems in the world, headquarters of erosion in the world.

“In the South West, they are not left out. Coastal erosions and salt water intrusions are threatening livelihoods and fresh water ecosystem. Even the North Central region now faces erratic weather patterns that disrupt farming circles and food production. So, it is a paradox of climate change unfolding simultaneously across a single nation.

“That is why I believe it when the director said, it’s about time we began to look at our problems as a single nation before organizations like yours, because our problem is unique, and it’s like they are racing against each other. So, I’m taking my time to catalog all these so that you know the situation of Nigeria from the spectacle of the legislature. That’s also to let you know that we are taking the issue of climate change seriously as legislature.

“We are sharing with you our understanding of what is happening so that when we formulate laws, policies, when we engage funding partners like you, you know the direction that we are coming from. The cost of these issues is not only environmental but economical and social. It is also existential, because if will keep quiet, it will wipe out a community, and or more.”

The Deputy Speaker also highlighted the efforts of the legislature in bringing solutions, saying it has enacted appropriate legislation to tackle the problem.

“Now, we can’t talk about this topic without referring to Climate Change Act, our legislative compass for the green transition. Like it has been mentioned here and appreciated by this agency, in 2021, the National Assembly, in demonstration of its foresight and proactive leadership, passed the Climate Change Act, which remains one of the most transformative legislative frameworks on climate change on the African continent. And many thought it was not going to happen, but we pushed for it, especially from the House of Representatives. So, this Act created the National Council on climate change that is chaired by the President of the Federal Republic. I think that is where you are coming from, and mandated the development of carbon budgets and long term emission strategies.

“Section 15 called for the establishment of the climate change fund, a dedicated vehicle to support the financing of Nigeria’s climate obligations and accelerate green development. So, we don’t just want to talk the talk. As a nation, the legislature decided that we should walk the talk by making sure we put in mechanisms and structures that will be able to help us in the needs analysis we carry out and how to begin to shape the sector, before intervention from organizations like yours will come in, so that we are doing something on our own, enabled and energized by our acts the Climate Change Act, while waiting for help to come from outside.

“However, while the council was inaugurated in 2022, climate change fund remains non operational as envisioned by the legislature. The fund was envisioned by the legislature as a strategic mechanism for mobilizing both domestic and international climate finance. The structure is there just for us to stimulate and activate it. It represents Nigeria’s resolve to take ownership of its climate future but it is a bridge we are yet to cross.

“Are we going to cross this? Yes, that is why your visit today is more than welcome, because I’m sure holding your hands so that we will be able to cross that bridge. And your visit was needed and I’m happy that you’re here. We believe that your organization in GCF can play a vital role in helping Nigeria, not only to activate this fund, but position it to attract, deploy and monitor climate finance. This strategic partnership is what we are looking for, and the structure is there”, he said.

Kalu also emphasised the importance of finances in achieving the needed goals, stressing that the partnership with Green Climate Fund was necessary.

“Climate Finance is the oxygen of climate action. I repeat that. Climate Finance is the oxygen of climate action. You have all the proposals for climate action, and you don’t have the finance, there’s no oxygen. And where there is no oxygen, there is no life. And so, we need you as a critical partner to be able to have life to what we have in our mind, so that they don’t become illusions to our visions and poetry as our policies.

“But let it be a decision that we should act together, and let it be decisively done, and let it be boldly done. Let today be remembered as the day when Nigeria and climate a Green Climate Fund, deepened the partnership that generations will thank us for. I want to thank you for coming, and I want to assure you that the parliament will always be with you the whole nine yards, making sure that your intended impact in our economy, our environment, our society, will be achieved. Make sure that at all time you are confident that you are working with the right set of people in making this achieve level in our country,” he said.

Earlier in her presentation, the leader of the delegation, DrMadueke underscored the need for Nigeria to articulate its own single country projects to enable it access funding from the Green Climate Funds as appropriately envisioned.

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