Policy Alert, a Civil Society Organisation promoting fiscal and ecological justice in the Niger Delta has commended the Federal Government over the recent appointment of a Director General for the National Council on Climate Change.
The FG had earlier announced the appointment of Dr. Salisu Dahiru as pioneer DG of the Council following campaigns from civil society groups in order to implement the Nigeria Climate Change Act, which was signed into law in November 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement signed by the Executive Director of Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton-Akpan made available to newsmen in Uyo yesterday, the organization applauded the appointment, describing it as a necessary first step towards the implementation of the Act.
“The appointment of a Director General for the Council is a necessary first step toward the implementation of the Act. We are expectant that the Secretariat under his leadership as created in the Act will be granted sufficient resources and the freehand needed to boldly address some critical issues that have dogged the climate policy space in recent years.
“We are excited that this is coming ahead of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP)of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the African COP.
“We therefore charge the director and Council to ensure that Nigeria leads Africa’s charge to ensure that rich countries who bear historical responsibility for the climate crisis are held accountable to their climate financing commitments and to a higher level of ambition on emissions reduction than the so-called net-zero travesty.” It said.
The statement urged the Council to as a matter of urgency begin to correct past mistskes which has mared Nigeria’s climate change response efforts adding that it would also continue to appraise the activities of the Council.
” At the domestic level, we expect that the Council will begin course-correcting some of the missteps that have marked Nigeria’s climate change response so far, particularly the misalignment between the country’s climate goals and sectoral or sector-wide policy and legal frameworks.
“While we expect the Secretariat to hit the ground running, it must be stated that from the demand side, we will not spare any effort to hold it up to the highest standards of transparency and accountability on the management of the country’s climate response and the Fund in particular.” It concluded.
