Why Nigeria should focus on climate change justice ahead of COP27

BY SAMUEL C. OKORIE

With the terrifying impacts of climate change in our world today and experts projecting that we must take bold steps to avoid what is a catastrophe waiting to happen in the nearest future, there is a need to take decisive steps in addressing the climate change crisis now. 

According to the COP27 presidency, COP27 will focus on implementation. In the words of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, president of Egypt: “I deeply believe that COP27 is an opportunity to showcase unity against an existential threat that we can only overcome through concerted action and effective implementation”. 

The world generally agrees that having set targets to mitigate climate change, it is time to implement well-thought-out plans to cut emissions and ensure that we keep average temperature rises to under 1.5 degrees Celsius. The UNEP emission gap report 2021 points out the need for countries to start effective implementation of their net zero targets to usher in just transition which would reduce global warming to 2°c closer to the goal of the Paris Agreement. 

Nigeria’s climate change crisis

For many centuries, Nigeria’s drylands have supported human communities. Farmers and pastoralists historically had access to large areas of arable land, permitting long fallow periods and allowing for mobility to exploit forage and water resources both seasonally and in times of drought.

In recent times, due to climatic variability and anthropogenic activities such as carbon emission, deforestation, extensive cultivation, overgrazing, bush burning, fuel-wood extraction, logging, charcoal production, faulty irrigation systems and intense industrialization, food security and agricultural production in Nigeria have remained at a very low standard compared to most regions of the world.

While some scientific and scholarly findings have attributed it to climate stress, soil quality, water scarcity, drought and disease, Nigeria’s climate change crisis seems to be on the rise leading to drought, desertification, migration, low farm produce, flood and loss and damage of lives and properties. 

In a joint survey carried out by Mark New, director of the African Climate Development Initiative (ACDI), food insecurity and low agricultural production can be linked to weak or no adaptation policy put in place that aims to strengthen climate change adaptation and resilience. This would have offered a better alternative and opportunity for sustainable farming practice, an increase in the food supply system, disruption in the chain of production and distribution, reduction in disease outbreaks and promotion of best practices for crop production and other socio-economic activities.

In Nigeria, seven out of every 10 farmers are women and children and are disproportionately affected by the effects of drought and desertification due to their high vulnerability and low-coping capacity. Female farmers are more vulnerable to climate change as a result of the deeply rooted cultural systems and unjustified assumptions about women. 

Generally, the vulnerability of farmers to climate change is even more severe in Nigeria where the majority of women folk are involved in agriculture for household consumption, yet are highly marginalised and excluded in climate decisions which directly affect them. An average Nigerian female in a rural community depends on agricultural produce for feeding and financial support, and a household with little or no produce that is not sufficient for feeding the family due to drought, flood, desertification or high temperature, will only think of stomach-survival. A situation whereby a family’s source of livelihood is threatened by climate change can create room for child marriage in exchange for socio-economic benefits.

Level of progress in the fight against climate change crisis

Nigeria made a loud statement during COP26 by committing to net zero transition by 2060. This was followed up by the signing of the climate change bill into an act thus giving our net zero ambitions legal backing. To promote land restoration, Nigeria has commenced the restoration of four million hectares of its degraded land by 2030 aimed at promoting land accessibility, sustainable livelihood and food security. Nigeria has also announced its commitments by launching its energy transition plan as the country’s pathway to achieving net zero emissions by 2060. Nigeria is set on a path that will help cut emissions, meet its NDCs, adapt to climate change, and transit to a clean and sustainable economy.

What is at stake for Nigeria at COP27

Lack of access to climate finance in strengthening adaptation and resilience approach towards mitigating climate change crisis and ushering in just transition could make Nigeria more vulnerable to worse climate stress leading to extreme climate events, worse than what is experienced today. Nigeria’s future for a sustainable environment and livelihood lies in the outcome of COP27.

The country’s COP27 priorities will therefore focus on exploring options for climate finance and building partnerships that will drive the country’s emissions reduction ambitions, adaptation, and climate change mitigation. In doing this, the focus will be on funding that drives nature-based solutions such as land restoration, reforestation, combating desertification, climate smart-agricultural practices, etc. Nigeria will also seek collaboration and support on sustainable waste management, renewable and clean energy provision, and loss and damage finance.

Call to action

Nigeria calls for climate justice!

Financial pledges made by developed countries to assist developing countries in combating climate change crises should be fulfilled.

Nigeria needs climate finance that will strengthen its adaptation strategies without which drought and desertification would worsen, affecting food security, security, economy and livelihood. Nigeria contributes less than two percent to global emissions but is adversely affected by climate change, leading to gender-based violence, loss of livelihood, poverty, insecurity, and institutional and economic instability.

It is pertinent for developed countries whose emissions contributed to the climate change crisis in Nigeria and other regions of the global south, to support climate vulnerable countries with easy-to-access funding opportunities to strengthen climate change adaptation and resilience approach in promoting smart agricultural practices, accelerate food security, reduce gender-based violence, restore degraded lands, strengthen just transition and net-zero commitments. Easy access to technology transfer for just transition into renewable energy.

Okorie is a climate crusader, climate pact ambassador for the European Commission and the communications and policy advisor at Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE, Nigeria)