By Maduka Nweke, [email protected]
Environmental stakeholders have raised concerns over the inadequate climate change management efforts in Africa, with particular emphasis on Nigeria, where the effects of climate change are increasingly severe. Speaking with *Daily Sun*, they stressed that beyond ongoing security challenges like herdsmen attacks and banditry, the intensifying flood crises have added new layers of hardship for Nigerians.
Despite frequent warnings from authorities about the risks of catastrophic flooding, stakeholders argue that the country remains largely unprepared, leaving communities exposed to recurring devastation.
Lamenting, the owner of Bliss Flower Beds in Abuja, Mr. Andrew Metolong, expressed frustration over the recurring floods that devastate his business each year. “Year in, year out, my flower beds are overrun by floods, causing me millions in losses,” he lamented. “I don’t understand why the government won’t dredge the canals through which floodwaters flow into the hinterlands.” Metolong emphasized that farmers across the country face similar losses, with crops destroyed and livelihoods disrupted. “Not all Africans have adequate waterways, and even those with channels don’t suffer the same level of flood damage,” he added.
Criticising the lack of progress despite substantial funds, he noted, “a whopping $1.3 trillion was earmarked to tackle flooding on the continent, yet there’s nothing to show for it.
“Government should be proactive and transparent in dealing with anything that concerns life,” he said.
Another environmental expert, Mrs. Uju Doris Okebukola, observed that poor environmental management is a primary driver of hardship across the nation.
She suggested that by prioritising environmental solutions, the government could not only mitigate these challenges but also foster a future where food resources are plentiful.
“I feel that those who import food from abroad are the elements sabotaging government efforts to minimize the effects of environmental degradation.
“We will continue to have problems with the environment even if $100 trillion is spent to manage climate change in the country”.
Earlier this week, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opened with the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) re-affirming its position, highlighting adaptation and climate finance as its top priorities.
At the conference, AGN noted that with a proposed quantum of $1.3 trillion as the minimum annual threshold for climate finance, the importance of delivering climate resources through concessional instruments and grants, as current market-rate mechanisms have proven wholly insufficient for addressing the scale of adaptation, as well as loss and damage responses required across Africa.
In keeping with the conference’s theme: “In solidarity for a Green World”, AGN Chair, Ali Mohamed, has underscored the importance of adaptation and climate finance, pointing out that the group has a clear mandate from its leaders to ensure fruitful outcomes on the two agenda items, in solidarity with the continent’s 1.4 billion people.
“As Africa, we will be firm for COP29 to deliver on climate finance and adaptation, regardless of the circumstances surrounding our participation and who we are as a group,” said Ambassador Mohamed.
“We are here, representing the aspirations of 1.4 billion Africans, and we will ensure that we don’t fail. We have a clear mandate from our leaders that the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate finance must align with actual transition costs faced by developing nations, as the current frameworks substantially underestimate the capital required for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) implementation across the continent,” he added.
With a proposed quantum of $1.3 trillion as the minimum annual threshold for climate finance, the African Group has continued to stress the importance of delivering climate resources through concessional instruments and grants, as current market-rate mechanisms have proven wholly insufficient for addressing the scale of adaptation, as well as loss and damage responses required across Africa. “For us in Africa, adaptation means agriculture support, resilient water infrastructure, and universal health coverage for all, amidst an increased climate-induced disease burden, among other necessary development support.
We are, therefore, not treating our development needs as a separate subject from climate adaptation, which cuts across all our development needs in key sectors,” emphasised the AGN Chair.
The AGN Chair particularly highlighted the urgent need for enhanced climate financing and inclusion of health within the UNFCCC space, in a more structured way. “Africa group is alive to the urgent need for enhanced climate financing support, with particular emphasis on grant-based and other non-debt burdening financing models for the health sector in Africa. We believe it is also about time for the health sector’s inclusion and active participation within the UNFCCC space, in a more structured way,” said Mohamed.
In addition to adaptation and finance, other priority areas for the African group include: the critical need for formal recognition of Africa’s special circumstances under the Paris Agreement, highlighting the asymmetry between the continent’s minimal emissions (4 per cent of global emissions) and disproportionate vulnerability to climate impacts, mainly seen in agriculture, water, energy and health sectors; the push for the Just Transition work programme to reflect Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) principles in its operational frameworks; the call for the operationalization of the fund for Loss and Damage to support African countries in coping with the irreversible impacts of climate change and aid in the recovery of affected communities; and finalisation of rules for carbon markets that are robust and deliver environmental integrity and the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.