FG launches project to map impacts of climate change across states

Ishaq Salako, minister of state for environment, says the federal government has launched a project to map the impacts of climate change across the country. 

Speaking during the launch of the mapping report in Abuja on Saturday, Salako said the government hopes to analyse the existing climate policies and actions to identify the support needs of each state.

He said it is also aimed at gaining the support of sub-national governments in managing and addressing environmental issues around climate change.

“Nigeria has a tropical climate with two precipitation regimes: low precipitation in the North and high precipitation in parts of the Southwest and Southeast,” Salako said.

“This can lead to aridity, drought, and desertification in the north, flooding and erosion in the South.

“Vulnerability analysis demonstrates that states in the North experience higher degrees of vulnerability to climate change than those in the South.

“The pattern of vulnerability to climate change also corresponds to the dominance of climate-sensitive agricultural activities.”

The minister said the project measured the extent of climate change awareness and action in all the states and federal capital territory (FCT), and investigated the willingness of states to engage and increase their climate awareness and action.

He said this would help the federal government in creating specific policies and action plans for the vulnerabilities of each state.

“The project applied SWOT Analysis that is Strengths (identified advantages), Weaknesses (identified gaps), Opportunities (resources) Threats (challenges) in dealing with climate change,” he said.

“This will help tailor-made policymaking and action plans with the specific needs and vulnerabilities of each state.

“With this, funding support and resources can be effectively allocated and directed to areas that are most vulnerable and require urgent action.

“This project was conceived as one of the efforts to assist the State Ministries of Environment with commendable steps to galvanize awareness of climate action at sub-national levels in Nigeria and ensure improved climate action and resilience among the state actors.”