Nigeria’s National Climate Change Bill will be a subject of international discussion at the 23rd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled to hold from November 6 to 17, 2017 in Bonn, Germany.

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change, Samuel Onuigbo, made the disclosure in Abuja on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at a pre-COP23 meeting organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).

Onuigbo, who was represented at the daylong forum by his Special Legislative Assistant (SLA), Stanley Nwabuisi, stated that this would come by via a special side-event – one of severally being planned by Nigeria at the two-week global confab.

The legislator stated that the side-event was informed by the need to share experiences and best practices with the international community on a similar topic, and sure that the bill emerges a better and more engaging document.

At a National Stakeholders Meeting Preparatory to COP23 in Abuja recently, Director, Department of Climate Change, Dr. Yerima Peter Tarfa, said Nigeria would host side-events on the Sovereign Green Bond (which is at the threshold of being launched) and implementation of the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

At the FES gathering, FES Resident Representative in Nigeria, Ulrich Thum, and Project Manager, Henry Okotie, introduced the organisation as a private, non-profit organisation committed to the values of Social Democracy. According to them, FES Nigeria cooperates with and supports the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on labour rights issues as well as how climate change affects labour and employment.

Prof Emmanuel Oladipo of the University of Lagos, Akoka, who chaired the meeting, stated that COP23 represents a platform to drive the implementation of the Paris Agreement that was committed to by a considerable number of Parties to the UNFCCC. He urged civil society organisations at the meeting to come up with issues they can put up before the government before, during and after the COP.

Hauwa Mustapha of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) shared Labour’s stand with participants, underlining the need for: social justices and a decent work environment for all, and reduction of emissions to zero.

According to Ovie Ainenehi, who represented the Federal Ministry of environment at the meeting, Nigeria negotiators will be aligning with the Africa Group’s stand, which includes operationalisation of adaptation as provided under the Convention through elaborating the global goal for adaptation of the agreement.

He listed government priority areas to include: NDCs implementation, agriculture (climate smart agriculture), renewable energy/energy efficiency, transportation, and green economy.

Participants eventually agreed of shared responsibilities and strategies towards the COP. Some are listed to include:

• Identifying and aligning with government activities at COP23
• Ensuring a proper access to information
• Building interrelationships between different environment-related ministries
• Proper coordination for the media, for effective information dissemination
• Translating NDCs into different languages to help locals understand the process
• Ministry of Environment should share information on its Pre-COP23 meeting
• Civil society should be notified about all Nigerian side events at the COP
• Need to effectively showcase Nigeria’s image at the conference
• Need for more grassroots awareness
• Need to appreciate the politics of climate change
• Need to create a network of participants
• Need to Itemise the working groups in Bonn and be organised to attend the sessions
• Need to liaise with the Ministry for thematic area to work with during the COP
• Need to help track Nigeria meetings, and build civil society strategies
• Need to know how to make an input in Nigeria/African position
• Need to identify where and how civil society interventions can be impacted
• Need to identify and be familiar with Nigerian negotiators going for the COP
• Need to respond to communication and strategic document
• Need to review policies to be able to effectively engage with policy makers.

States that have indicated interest to key into the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) have been asked to contribute a minimum N500 million as counterpart funding.

Similarly, they are to provide 12.90% of total cost of the project as well as make available base line data of erosion sites in their states.

This was one of the major resolutions of the National Council on Environment (NCE) held from October 16 to 18, 2017 in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

NEWMAP commenced about five years ago with seven states and, as a result of achievements recorded by the first mover states, the project has been expanded with a total of 19 states in partnership. The NEWMAP family may expand even further as more states have apparently indicated interest in joining the fray.

But finance is increasingly becoming a major cause for concern, in the light of dwindling resources at the international, national and state government levels. The issue attracted the interest of participants at the recently held International Conference on Geo-Spatial Technlogy (or SSKE Knowledge Fair) in Abuja, where it was disclosed that some states were toying with the idea of using part of their Ecological Fund allocation as counterpart funding for NEWMAP, which is regarded as a one-stop-shop solution to erosion control and management in Nigeria. The idea however raised a mixture of support and objections.

The NCE in Abeokuta expressed concern over the fact that the nation’s current forest cover is less than 4% as against the expected 25%. It resolved therefore that exportation of charcoal in Nigeria should be banned and alternative clean source of energy should be developed and promoted.

The Federal Ministry of Environment was asked to step up actions toward synergy with relevant MDAs through Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in order to resolve serious challenges of overlap, conflict and duplication of regulatory roles.

Similarly, the Federal Government was directed to put in place policies and other measures to promote provision and utilisation of solar energy and energy efficient cook stoves, even as there should be synergy between the federal and state governments in the implementation of climate change programmes especially on capacity building and access to global climate finance.

Other resolutions at the NCE were listed to include:

• That states should be encouraged to put in place waste-to-wealth programmes/initiatives that can attract private sector participations and foreign direct investment in order to unlock investment opportunities in the waste management sub- sector.
• That state governments should provide security for Federal Ministry of Environment projects under implementation in their states to prevent vandalisation and also fulfill their obligations as agreed.
• That the Federal Ministry of Environment should domesticate the Minamata Convention on Mercury and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) ratified by Nigeria.
• That the Federal Ministry of Environment and states should establish reliable electronic based data bank on Pollution Control and Waste Management issues in the country.
• That Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) in flood-prone areas should be installed by federal, states and local governments to save lives and property during flooding.
• That more awareness and sensitisation should be carried out to achieve better adoption of Tree planting and reforestation of degraded forest estates.

Government has been called upon to embark on the re-orientation of pastoralists and farmers in order to ensure harmonious co-existence between both parties.

The call formed part of resolutions at the 10^th Sustainability Academy of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) held on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 in Abuja. Themed: “Climate Change, Pastoralism, Land And Conflicts”, the daylong forum was organised in collaboration with the Confederation of Traditional Herder Organisations (CORET).

While emphasising that both are interdependent and their actions can be mutually beneficial, participants noted that ongoing conflicts between pastoralists and farmers are needless and distorts development efforts.

“Pastoralists and farmers have lived in harmony in Nigeria and can do so now,” the gathering submitted in a communique, adding that there should be greater engagement of extension workers by all levels of governments to effectively engage in communicating climate change to farmers and pastoralists.

The fact that climate change impacts differently on different categories of people should be considered in preparing climate actions, resolved the gathering, adding that the Great Green Wall programme aimed at combating desertification and the preservation of small water bodies and rivers should incorporate pasture development.

Government was further asked to carry out livestock development policy review to align them with regional and international practices, even as it initiates actions to produce a detail land use plan for the country.

To address the impacts of climate change and prevent incessant crises between farmers and herders that arise as a result of land and other environmental issues, the Academy further recommended:

• Youth restiveness should be addressed by all stakeholders through capacity building, mentoring and skills diversification. Development partners have a role to play in this direction.
• There is need for public-private partnership and scientific re-orientation for the development of pastoralism in Nigeria.
• Herders should adopt the practice of managed intensive systematic rotational grazing.
• In the brokering of peace and the implementation of all forms of conflict management initiatives, it is pertinent that women are carried along. Their full participation and inclusion should be entrenched in such processes.
• Media should engage more in investigative journalism in reporting conflicts rather than stereotyping pastoralists and others.
• The Federal Government should create a Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries as is obtained in several other African countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Niger and Tanzania
• Climate change is not a boundary-limited issue. Nigeria should approach this issue from this perspectibe in pursuing adaptation, funding, resilience and mitigation strategies in communities.
• There is need to take inventory of the all existing grazing reserves, traditional grazing areas, transhumance corridors, major stock routes, fully develop at least one per state in line with the recommendations of the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Livestock Development in Nigeria of 2015 and implement the Report of the Presidential Committee on Pastoralism and Insecurity.

Discussions on the subject matter were preceded by two presentations which instigated discussions among participants after an overview from the convener, Nnimmo Bassey, head of HOMEF, who stressed that the gathering was for the sharing of knowledge and finding ways by which the conflicts occasioned by climate change can be addressed.

The first presentation was delivered by Priscilla Achakpa of the Women Environmental Programme (WEP), and titled: “Climate Change, Pastoralism and Land Conflict: The Gender Perspective”, while the second presentation by Mohammed Bello Tukur centred on the topic climate change, pastoralism and land conflict was made by Jaoji A. Alhassan on his behalf.

After exhaustive discussions on the issues raised in the presentations, all the participants agreed that climate change is a global threat to human security and it impacts are contributory to conflicts in Nigeria. The Academy noted that pastoralists, farmers, women and children are some of the most vulnerable groups in Nigeria.