By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
The Minister of environment Balarabe Abbas has highlighted Nigeria’s climate action at a high -level Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), event held at Embassy of United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Rome.
The event titled: “Partnering to Scale Up Climate Actions in Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations (FCS) – Zooming in on Food Security,” was organized by the FAO, on Tuesday June 25th, 2024.
The session, according to official statement, focused mainly on solutions and good practices for building resilient livelihoods in communities facing the climate crises and insecurity.
Minister Abbas outlined Nigeria’s comprehensive approach to addressing these challenges through local, national, and regional initiatives during the session.
On local actions: Minister Abbas harped on capacity building on climate-resilient agriculture and waste management, Climate change awareness and sensitization programs, Tree planting and renewable energy initiatives.
Hon. Abbas also emphasized on the provision of relief items and local security to protect forests, adoption of irrigation farming and rainwater harvesting, respectively.
On national actions: the minister stressed the need for cleaning up oil-contaminated soils in Ogoni Land, Developing a National Adaptation Plan and early warning systems for flood-prone areas.
Implementing empowerment programs by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and NEMA., the ACReSAL project for landscape restoration in Northern Nigeria, in partnership with FAO, were among the national actions necessitated.
The Minister also included regional actions: highlighting hosting of the Climate Commission for Sahel Region, strengthening border security and bilateral agreements, such as with Cameroon for ecosystem conservation, and participation in the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall and West Africa Coastal Areas Management Programme.
The Minister emphasized the importance of awareness, capacity building, collaboration, financial support, and technology transfer in leveraging international, regional, and local climate efforts.
He also highlighted the challenges of funding, technology, and capacity building, while noting opportunities in renewable energy, climate-resilient agriculture, and regional cooperation.
For building climate-resilient agrifood systems, the Minister called for coordinated involvement of all stakeholders, comprehensive studies to identify conflict causes, and adoption of measures to boost food security and climate adaptation. End.
