Nigeria and the burden of climate change

According to Wikipedia, “Climate change is a long term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define earth’s local, regional and global climates. It is simply a long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, which produces heat-trapping gases. These human-produced temperature increases are commonly referred to as global warming”. That climate change is one of the biggest threats facing humanity today is no longer in doubt. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has urged global leaders to minimise carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero by 2050 to prevent global warming of 1.5 C, or likely more, above pre-industrial levels.

Over the years, Nigeria’s climate has been changing, especially as the temperature increases nowadays. Variable rainfall, rise in sea level and flooding; drought and desertification, land degradation, and more frequent extreme weather events have continued to have adverse effects on freshwater resources, and loss of biodiversity. According to the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet), rainfall variation is projected to continue to increase, precipitation in southern areas is expected to rise and rising sea levels are expected to exacerbate flooding and submersion of coastal lands. Droughts and heat waves have continued to hamper agricultural production, particularly rain-fed agriculture, which many Nigerians rely on for their livelihoods. Agriculture accounts for around 23 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

Countries that are most vulnerable to climate change have typically been responsible for a small share of global emissions. This raises questions about justice and fairness. Climate change is strongly linked to sustainable development. Limiting global warming makes it easier to achieve sustainable development goals, such as eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities. The connection is recognised in Sustainable Development Goal 13 which is to “[t]ake urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. The goals on food, clean water and ecosystem protection have synergies with climate mitigation.

The geopolitics of climate change is complex. It has often been framed as a free-rider problem, in which all countries benefit from mitigation done by other countries, but individual countries would lose from switching to a low-carbon economy themselves. This framing has been challenged. For instance, the benefits of a coal phase-out to public health and local environments exceed the costs in almost all regions. Furthermore, net importers of fossil fuels win economically from switching to clean energy, causing net exporters to face stranded assets: fossil fuels they cannot sell.

More worrisome is Lake Chad and other lakes in the country are drying up and at risk of disappearing. In 2020, durations and intensities of rainfall increased, producing large runoffs and flooding in many places in Nigeria. This affects agricultural produce and leaves farmers in a hopeless state, the ultimate effect was felt among the masses as the price of foods and agricultural produce skyrocketed.

Like every other country in the world, Nigeria has its share of climate change disasters. Noticeably, climate-induced conflicts are exacerbating our fragile security situations, with flashpoints mainly in the middle belt region of the country. In the northern region, increasing desertification has forced thousands of herdsmen to move to the southern and middle-belt areas which have led to constant clashes with farmers culminating in the death of hundreds of people. The southeastern part of the country has its share of climate change. The gully erosion has devastated many farmlands and areas of settlement leading to homelessness, hunger, and poverty among the locals. While the northern region is battling desertification encroachment, the rising sea levels are threatening the southern coastal regions. Climate change poses a significant threat to Nigeria’s development ambitions of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and could even reverse the progress that is already been made. Unless we take action, these unfortunate trends are likely to truncate the hard-won progress we have made as a nation.

The world is in a race to limit climate change and find cost-effective solutions to this emergency that is redefining global partnerships in a way that we have not seen before.  However, this race can be a win but for this to materialise, unprecedented leadership, sacrifices, and cooperation from all nations are needed to tackle this problem. So far, Nigeria has ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement. This is commendable considering that it is one of the top six greenhouse gas emitters in Africa. Most importantly, there is an urgent need to popularise climate change in our national, regional, and state development plans to reduce the root causes of these disasters. Awareness programmes should be created among people especially rural dwellers, farmers, and herdsmen on the need to avoid bush burning, overgrazing, and deforestation among others. Advocacy programs should be set up through workshops, seminars, public lectures, climate media campaigns, etc. To this end, the need to preserve, promote and protect our environment cannot be overemphasised as it majorly affects human existence.

It is a known fact that man depends on his environment for sustenance, survival, and existence, and man’s life is shaped by his environment, this emphasises the need for the protection and preservation of the environment from every form of deterioration. The increasing alarming climate change disaster can be tamed and controlled if governments at all level rise to the occasion thereby enabling us to have a healthy and conducive environment.

Bayonle writes in via Yusufflolade335@gmail.com