From Dare Akogun, Egypt
The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq has expressed the commitment of the Federal Government to scale up climate change adaption in Nigeria through her ministry.
Speaking during a side event on “Scaling up Climate Change Adaptation in Nigeria” organised by her Ministry in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment at the Nigerian Pavilion COP 27, taking place in Egypt.
Hajia Farouq explained that many
communities in the country are composed of the poor, elderly, children and persons living with disabilities the addition effect of climate change has rendered them more vulnerable than they already are.
Consequently, the Minister expressed the resolve of her ministry to mitigate the impact of climate change on the vulnerable members of the society by scaling up of climate change adaptation in Nigeria, so as to build community resilient and adaptation practices to mitigate and reduce the consequent of climate change.
She said her ministry will work with the Nigerian adaptation plan which seeks to reduce the vulnerability of communities to the impact of climate change by building adaptive capacity and resilience.
The Minister added that the plan also advocate integration of climate change adaptation into relevant new and existing policies programme and activities as well as developing planning process and strategies.
“The reason we are here today is to harness and discourse good practices programme and strategies that other countries are using to reduce vulnerabilities to climate change.
“We want to know how to build adaptive capacities and resilience in line with national and international policies and commitment in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
“Specifically we want to know how to identify and map out climate change risk better we harmonise input and launch a people centred climate change adaptation in collaboration with key partners like the federal ministry of environment and other relevant Ministry Department and Agencies”
Earlier in his remarks, the Honourable Minister of Environment, Barr. Mohammed Abdulahi quoting the report of the inter-governmental panel on climate change affirmed that by 2050 many coastal mega cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt and other low line coastal cities in Nigeria will in a century witnessed weather catastrophe every year affecting millions of people and properties and causing devastation.
He said Nigeria has taken bold step to develop the Adaptation Communication guided by the NAP Global Network, an adaptation communication which he say will play a central role in identifying national needs and enable international follow up, while informing future action, driving ambition and contributing information for the global stock taking.
“It is obvious that the challenges of climate change are enormous and since no individual Ministry can confront the challenges alone, we are calling for joint and cooperative efforts to tackle the problem, it is therefore pertinent that we begin to take our pledges into action as take away from COP 27” He said.
