New Telegraph

Ekwueme varsity develops resource centre for climate action

Intended to increase public awareness and stakeholders’ engagement in the revision and subsequent implementation of the revised Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AEFUNAI) inEbonyi State, has developed World Resources Institute (WRI) to that effect.

 

According to the Director, Centre for Climate Change and Development (CCCD) at the university, Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, the centre was implementing the WRI funded project geared towards providing independent critical analysis and input into the revision process of Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

 

He added that the project was also intended to provide a platform for the general public to engage with, question, and make contribution to the country’s new NDC so that the document could truly help to drive sustainable green economic development for the country..

 

The professor described the scheme as “timely project” saying it has the potential to make substantial impact in Nigeria’s and possibly Africa’s climate change policy and economic development more broadly.” He pointed out that one of the serious effect of the previous NDC preparation process was that it involved very limited public engagement. The consequence, he said, was that the country missed the opportunity to receive substantial inputs from critical stakeholders like businesses, parliamentarians and sub-national actors.

 

“Till date, many of these stakeholders have remained largely unaware of or had limited involvement in the implementation of the NDC. Moreover, with limited public awareness of, and engagement with the development of the original NDC, there was not much from the civil society in the way of monitoring the implementation (or lack) of the NDC following its ratification in 2017,” he said.

 

He said that it was expected that the MRI would increase public awareness of climate change in Nigeria more broadly, adding that it would help to widen the horizon of discourse and strongly compliment current governmentled NDC revision process with the support of partnership through the Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP), by injecting academic analysis and more public debate into the process. He said: “The project will promote series of national virtual dialogues to provide opportunity to national and international experts to analyse various aspects of the NDC.

 

“The national dialogue will also be a platform for a range of various stakeholders to engage in the revision of the NDC as well as monitor its implementation. The project will complement the government led process and help to open up the process to the participation of more stakeholders and the general public as well as help to increase public awareness of climate change more broadly.” It would be recalled that Nigeria started the process of revising her Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in March 2020 year and is due to conclude the exercise in November.

 

The result of the process will be a revised national pledge on climate action that will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by the end of the year. The NDCs are voluntary documents that governments agreed that Parties to the UNFCCC will submit to show what each government has committed to do in order to tackle climate change. Although the submission and commitment are voluntary; once a country submits their NDC, they are expected to keep the commitment or pledge made.

 

Nigeria was among the 190 countries that submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the UNFCCC in the run up to the COP meeting in Paris in 2015. Nigeria’s INDC has since been subsequently converted into the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) following the country’s ratification of the Paris Agreement in May, 2017.

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