2014 WED a clarion call to save the environment

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the day, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, represented by Mrs. Aisha Adebayo, Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, said there was need for people to become more conscious about their environment.Mohammed called for minimising and managing the greenhouse gas emission, noting that scientists and environmental experts […]

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the day, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, represented by Mrs. Aisha Adebayo, Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, said there was need for people to become more conscious about their environment.
Mohammed called for minimising and managing the greenhouse gas emission, noting that scientists and environmental experts have attributed the raising sea level to global warming occasioned by human activities such as burning of coal, emission of gases, cutting of tropical forests amongst others.
Mohammed said the FCT theme for this year’s world environment campaign is: “ Walk – To – Work ,” aimed to draw attention to the implication of the depletion of the ozone layer.
He lamented that human activities have led to rise in the sea level, causing erosion of shorelines, salt water contamination, salinity of estuaries and aquifers, flooding of coastal wetlands, storm and coastal flooding.
He, however, called for synergy among political leaders and stakeholders to take action on disturbing contemporary environmental issues.
 “This forum provides opportunity for us as stakeholders and political leaders to engage ourselves positively on issues that affect the environment,” he added.
Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam, noted that the conclusion of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided evidence that human influence was the dominant factor responsible for changes in climate system.
She said: “Studies have projected that with an accelerated sea level rise of 0.5 meters, 35 percent of Niger Delta landmass will be lost and with accelerated sea level rise of 1.0 meters, 75 percent of Niger Delta will be gone under water. Given this scenario, it implies that nearly 32 million people (22.6% of the national population) who live along the coastal zone are at risk of becoming environmental refugees.  Such forced movement could result in social frictions arising from demands of land resources for economic activities by the refugees.”
She said that the means of livelihoods of the rural dwellers along the Nigerian coast were under threat, adding that the only choice was to take practical actions in reducing the activities that caused climate change
She added: “We need to plan for the changes that are expected to occur. We need to adjust our ecological, social and economic systems and change the way we do things. Our processes, our practices and our structures must be properly aligned to reduce the impacts of and vulnerability to climate change now as well as increasing the social, economic and environmental resilience to future impacts.”