Climate Change: ‘legislations are critical for transformative actions’

A member of the Governing Board of North East Development Commission (NEDC), Rep Sam Onuigbo, has asserted that legislations such as the Climate Change Act are critical for transformative actions. He noted that the law along with the accompanying actions by the Nigerian Federal Government are aimed at ensuring that no critical segment, especially the […]

A member of the Governing Board of North East Development Commission (NEDC), Rep Sam Onuigbo, has asserted that legislations such as the Climate Change Act are critical for transformative actions.

He noted that the law along with the accompanying actions by the Nigerian Federal Government are aimed at ensuring that no critical segment, especially the poor and vulnerable groups are inequitably pushed behind in the country’s coordinated march towards climate justice.

Onuigbo, who sponsored the Climate Change Bill in the Ninth National Assembly maintained that the drive towards climate justice and just energy transition will enable the country to achieve a low-carbon and environmentally sustainable economic development.

The former lawmaker made the assertions while delivering a keynote address titled “Climate Change Act: Implications for Climate Action in Nigeria,” during the Climate Justice and Just Energy Transition conference in honour of Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba’s 60th anniversary celebration at the Coal City University, Enugu.

Onuigbo, who is also chairman of Climate Change and Security Committee of the NEDC Board, noted that history has shown that “in our constantly evolving world, it is not the strong that survive, but those willing to adapt to change.”

He urged the Federal Ministry of Education to work with all levels of educational institutions to include climate change education in their curricula, in line with Section 26 of the Act.

He stated: “This is especially relevant for the climate crisis which affects every facet of our lives. This has led to several efforts by international organizations to converge several times to find solutions to the climate crisis.

“The evolution of global efforts at addressing climate change was well-captured in Peter Jackson’s “From Stockholm to Kyoto: A Brief History of Climate Change.” Jackson opined that “[i]n the midst of the current international debate on global warming, it is instructive to note that it has taken the United Nations and the international community some two generations to reach this point.

“It was not until the UN Scientific Conference which was held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972, that the United Nations first developed action plans and a declaration mentioning climate change as a global problem. Consequently, the governing board of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established.”

Onuigbo, who was named as one of the 30 Global Leaders on Climate Change in November 2023 by the New York-based Business Insider magazine, declared: “Now more than ever, the world seems to be coming to a consensus that large-scale and coordinated climate action is the only path to a sustainable future.

“So, despite differing opinions, we were able to agree, at COP28 in Dubai, to a just and gradual phase-out of fossil fuels, and the tripling of global renewable energy capacity by 2030.[1] While I fully understand the implications of fossil fuels phase-out for a hydrocarbon dependent rentier state like Nigeria, we must also remember the cost of inaction and the grave danger of stranded critical assets.”

While contending that what is important is “to ensure that our transition is done in a just and equitable way,” Onuigbo recalled that since COP28, the International Energy Agency has launched an online tracker of global efforts to meet the renewable energy commitments at COP28.

Tracking some positive international global actions, he said: “The (President Joe) Biden administration has unveiled US$7bn in grant funding for solar under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All programme; the World Bank in partnership with the Africa Development Bank has unveiled a US$500bn plan to provide clean energy for 300million Africans.

“The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has in conjunction with other partners, sought stakeholders’ input in the development of Regional Energy Transition Outlooks, and the Federal Government of Nigeria has released N100bn as part of funding for the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative to reduce emissions in the transportationn sector and cushion the effects of subsidy removal.”

He therefore asserted that there is a huge sense of urgency globally in tackling the climate crisis with even the legislatures across the globe making efforts to provide legal backing to their respective countries.

“Make no mistake about it, without legislative backing, it is impossible for governments to be legally bound to their climate change commitments. The world seems to have come to terms with this and has encouraged increased legislative actions to back up climate change commitments and goals by countries,” the former lawmaker stated.

Quoting Ruth Wolstenholme, Onuigbo declared that “Parliamentarians can play a crucial role in addressing this challenge by ensuring government accountability and effectiveness as well as providing a vital knowledge link with constituents.

He maintained that since both aspects are important in ensuring a country’s response and resilience to climate change, lawmakers “also have opportunity to promote the voice of citizens at home and during international negotiations.”

“This aptly captures the critical role of legislators in the battle against climate change. Without legislators making the laws, providing oversight, engendering knowledge sharing with their constituents, and generally holding everyone accountable, no country will effectively meet its climate change goals and obligations.

“It is therefore appropriate to state here that, aware of the importance of the role of legislation for climate change, the government of the United Kingdom set the ball rolling in 2008 with the first standalone climate change legislation. Other countries of the world followed suit,” he noted.

the former federal lawmaker, while itemizing some key provisions in Nigeria’s Climate Changer Law, disclosed that a lot of deep thinking went into the drafting of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act.

His words: “The Act was structured to provide overarching guidelines on climate action in the country. Primarily, the focus of the Climate Change Act 2021 was to galvanise actions that are intended to realize the aims and aspirations of the delivery of the triplets of Rio de Janeiro 1992 (climate change, biodiversity governance, sustainable forest and land management to fight off desertification); actualize its net-zero pledge; and particularly the goals of the Paris Agreement of reducing global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“This Act has provisions that have highlighted the importance of climate action and recognised the importance of biodiversity governance with desertification as part of the major challenge facing the country today.

“In 2021, Nigeria updated her ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are the essential tools and framework for attaining her commitments towards reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

“The updated NDC has an unconditional contribution of 20% below business-as-usual by 2030, and 47% conditional contribution on international support in finance mobilization and technical know-how. It covers the key prioritized sectors of Agriculture, Energy, Forest and Other Land Use (FOLU), Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), Oil & Gas, Transport, Waste and Water.

“The NDC Implementation Framework was launched to drive the delivery of Nigeria’s NDCs targets through 2030. It is in line with these objectives that the Explanatory Memorandum of the Act states that it is “…to provide for the mainstreaming of climate change actions, establish the National Council on Climate Change, and related matters.