Climate Watch: Lagos unveils 5-year action plan, and earth tremor recorded in Osun

Despite directly impacting our communities, health and livelihood, climate-related reports usually take a back seat to dominant news beats like politics and business. Climate Watch aims to ensure you never miss important stories on climate change and actions being taken towards limiting its impact.

Here is a round-up of last week’s climate stories:

• Who would have thought that some of the measures taken to tackle climate change could have a negative impact on the environment? This is part of the findings of a collaborative report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report found that tackling climate change and biodiversity loss independently would be counterproductive. It noted that both are connected and must be tackled together. Find out the measures the report suggests.

• Climate predictions are made so that people, such as farmers, can prepare ahead of any climatic events. This year, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has predicted that the rains would stop earlier than expected. As a result of this, Midala Anuhu, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) head of operations in Adamawa, has advised farmers to use improved crop varieties to avoid challenges that may arise as a result of low rainfall. Read what he suggests they do here. 

•  The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has recently been taking stock of its achievements in the past six years. From infrastructure to the fight against corruption to the environment, the administration claims it has outdone its predecessors. Mohammad Abubakar, minister of environment, last week said the Buhari administration is the only one that has made meaningful progress in the Ogoni cleanup project. Find out other environmental milestones the minister says President Buhari has achieved here.

• Also within the week, what can be described as a moderate earthquake was recorded in Osun. The slight movement of the earth surface commonly referred to as earth tremor was recorded by Adekunle Adepelumi, a professor of geophysics at Obafemi Awolowo University. Experts warn that Nigeria needs to monitor such underground earth movement to prevent further escalation into a full-blown earthquake. Find out how this earth tremor came about.

• In its recently launched ‘Climate Action Plan 2020-2025’, the Lagos state government pointed out that energy, transport and waste management sectors are the major emitters of carbon in the city. Therefore, the state intends to focus on reducing emissions in these sectors in the next five years. Read further to find out what is contained in the climate action plan.