NIGERIAN’S friends of the environment that comprise of town planners, environmentalists, surveyors and other stakeholders, have all condemned withdrawal of the United States of America (USA) from the Paris Accord on climate change, as announced by President Donald Trump.
Reacting to the description of climate change as “Chinesse hoax”, by President Trump, whereby denying the reality of the changes in weather conditions globally, with its concomitant negative effects, the immediate Past Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development in Lagos, Mr Olutoyin Ayinde, a town planner, while admonising the Nigerian government to show greater commitments to her mitigation programmes, noted that denying the reality of climate change is akin to ‘denying the presence of sun and moon’.
“I do not think anyone can reasonably be arguing against the reality of climate change right now. The events, disasters and several mishaps that occur fairly regularly continue to remind us of this reality. “Nigeria itself is a victim of some of these mishaps. The desert is fast encroaching our savannas while our rain forests are beginning to thin out. The signs had been there many years ago and well-meaning citizens like a well known Newton Jibunoh, an engineer, had campaigned to awaken our sensitivity in that direction. Worldwide there are floods with unprecedented fatalities. So this is real”, said Ayinde.
He noted that the position held by President Donald Trump is that of a businessman, “what’s in it for me” syndrome. Obviously, there are nations of the world that have taken advantage of the climate change phenomenon to explore industries that deal with mitigating measures and devices, and China is very prominent in this; there are also individuals and groups that seemed to have benefited from the same campaign over climate change, and noting that the US was behind in all of these with most of the industries are in the East and Asian countries, “President Trump is thinking of reviewing the policies. His decision to delay his support for the Paris agreement would not stop the next flood, nor will it reduce the increasing temperature. His position is strictly business, in my opinion, and he is entitled to it, if his country allows him to go ahead with it.
“Man has over time plundered the natural environment, and unless we begin to take mitigating measures and drop the tempo of the atrocities being committed against environment, our existence will be at greater risk”, he concluded.
Speaking in similar vein, Dr. Tosin Adigun, a friend of the environment and author, urged the Nigerian government to ignore Trump’s insinuation that climate change is another hoax, “orchestrated by some over-ambitious economies”.
As encapsulated by Ayinde, the reality of vagaries in climate are so pronounced,”so tangible and visible than what any right thinking person may denounced”.
“Although, Nigerian officials usually draw examples from the Americans way of doing things. But not in this denial of a reality. So, whatever might be the problem with Mr. Trump, Nigeria need to do more on her climate change mitigation and control programmes”, he counseled.
Similarly, the President of National Problems and Solutions (NPS), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Dr. Wale Omole, who doubles as Chairman, T and S Hospitals, Lagos, urged thew Nigeria governments at all levels to step up the different mitigation programmes, already in places.
Dr. Omole, while commending the Lagos State government, especially, former Governor Babatunde Fashola’s commitment to environmental issues that has to do with climate change, urges the current administration in the state to start where it’s predecessor stopped.
“For anybody to deny the reality of climate change is totally absurd and speaks of ignorance of the highest order. I think President Trump is trying to play politics with the issue, or to spite his world power counterparts”, said Omole.
President Trump announced last week Thursday, that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, weakening efforts to combat global warming and embracing isolationist voices in his White House who argued that the agreement was a pernicious threat to the economy and American sovereignty.
In a speech from the Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said the landmark 2015 pact imposed wildly unfair environmental standards on American businesses and workers. He vowed to stand with the people of the United States against what he called a “draconian” international deal.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” the president said, drawing support from members of his Republican Party but widespread condemnation from political leaders, business executives and environmentalists around the globe.
His decision to abandon the agreement for environmental action signed by 195 nations, including Nigeria, is a remarkable rebuke to heads of state, climate activists, corporate executives and members of the president’s own staff, who all failed to change his mind with an intense, last-minute lobbying blitz.
The Paris agreement was intended to bind the world community into battling rising temperatures in concert, and the departure of the Earth’s second-largest polluter is a major blow.
He said he wanted to negotiate a better deal for the United States, and the administration said he had placed calls to the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Canada to personally explain his decision. A statement from the White House press secretary said the president “reassured the leaders that America remains committed to the trans-Atlantic alliance and to robust efforts to protect the environment.”
But within minutes of the president’s remarks, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement saying that the Paris climate accord was “irreversible” and could not be renegotiated.
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