Participants at the National Conference on Climate Change have called on the Federal Government to mainstream climate change as a subject into the educational curriculum.
This is contained in a communiqué signed by Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, the Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) at the end of a two-day national conference in Abuja.
The participants said that making the curriculum conventional became necessary as it would spur interest among the youth and breed a generation of environmentally conscious activists.
It said that the conference brought participants together to discuss climate change agenda for the 27th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Conference on Climate Change scheduled for Egypt in November.
“Climate change must be mainstreamed into the country’s educational curriculum to spur interests among the youth and breed a generation of environmentally conscious activists.
“There is need to simplify the prevailing climate change policy documents for easy assimilation and engaging of the younger generation.
“We also underscore the need for trainings and capacitation of Nigerian journalists to report climate change in-depth, to expose false solutions and sustained spotlight on real solutions to the crisis.
“There is need for the formation of a Nigeria climate watchdog comprising frontline communities, civil society, development experts, the academia and the media, among other crucial stakeholders,” it said.
The communique said this would assist to interrogate Nigeria’s climate change response pathway and advance the energy transition campaign.
According to the communique, there is need to protect the rights of the indigenous people, the original landowners whose culture and livelihood are being eroded.
“The re-invention of the Nigeria Social Forum is important and the same must accommodate sub-demands in the environment and climate change space.
“Alliance building, partnerships, and engagement with the National Climate Change Council, the African Group of Negotiators, and the UNFCCC processes should be strengthened.
“There is need to constitute a team that will clearly develop defined granular activities with the mandate to coordinate, prioritise and engage relevant state actors on a jointly developed climate change agenda,” it said.
The communique further said that the team would draw up a manifesto on areas of critical intervention as a body of work for sustained engagement.
It said that frontline communities, civil society organisations, academicians, development experts and representatives of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of governments participated in the conference. (NAN)