From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
A group, Peace Advocacy and Sustainable Development Outreach (PASDO), has urged the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to initiate positive actions targeted at addressing climate change issues in the state.
Specifically, the group urged the governor to explore the opportunities provided by the climate change adaptation funds wherein the state could secure up to $20 million to tackle its climate change issues.
PASDO made the persuasion during a climate change education session it organised for the government as part of the activities to commemorate the 2022 World Environment Day in Awka, the state capital.
Organizing Secretary of PASDO, Chidimma Uwakwe, in a statement issued to Daily Sun, said that the objective of the outreach was to draw the attention of the governor to the funding opportunities and encourage him to take climate change adaptation seriously.
“It is sad that Anambra State suffers the worst impacts of climate change in Nigeria and Africa, but doesn’t make efforts to access international climate change adaptation funds to help it tackle the problems. That is what we want to change”, Uwakwe said.
A climate change expert, Elochukwu Ezenekwe, while delivering a lecture in the Ministry of Environment, explained how the negative impacts of climate change cut across the work of most of the government ministries in the state.
He discussed the concept of Climate Justice and went in-depth on Climate Change Adaptation Funds which he said developing countries could access to help them tackle the impacts of climate change in their localities.
Ezenekwe encouraged the governor to set a target of securing up to $20 million in climate change adaptation funds for the people of the state during his tenure.
“This is something we can do. The Governor should not be scared to set an ambitious target and challenge the experts to work”, he said.
Elochukwu expressed willingness to volunteer his services to the state if it would not be able to hire the right human capital due to, perhaps, paucity of funds.
He said that the state could find his expertise acquired through years of handling climate change-related assignments for a number of international organizations, including the world’s largest climate change research body – the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) very useful.
Commissioner for Environment, Felix Odimegwu, an engineer, thanked the group for the visit and its willingness to work with the ministry in order to tackle climate change issues in the state.
“I know about climate change. It is something that is affecting everyone and it is a big issue internationally. We have a Climate Change Desk in the Ministry and I have had several discussions with the staff.
“But this is the first time I am hearing about the Adaptation Funds. I didn’t know such funds exist but I would like to make my own investigations”, Odimegwu was quoted as saying in the statement.
The commissioner added that “We need to change from being passive, from waiting for these things to come to us; we need to start going after these funds and opportunities wherever they are.”