An ecologist, Mr Habib Omotosho, has urged the Federal Government to regulate industrial pollution to combat climate change.

Omotosho, the National Coordinator, Environmental Advancement Initiative, an NGO, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, July 5, 2018.

Similarly, an environmentalist, Mr Rasheed Lawal, has told the Lagos State House of Assembly to enact a law to compel individuals and corporate bodies in the state to plant trees.

Lawal, who suggested this in an interview with NAN in Lagos on Friday, July 6, said that tree planting was crucial in securing Lagos as a mega-city.

“Legislation should be enacted to encourage planting of trees, especially in the new settlements in Lagos State,’’ he argued, pointing out that planting of trees would “sink” greenhouse gases, produced by regular activities in the state, which is cited as Nigeria’s most populous city and economic hub.

Omotosho said the government must swing into action as cement, textile, petrochemicals and other manufacturing industries were responsible for major emissions in the country.

He also said that the power sector needed to be fully decarbonised to achieve a climate-safe future.
According to him, these industries must decarbonise as a matter of priority.

“Around 300 million children currently live in areas where the air is toxic – where the air they breathe exceeds international limits by at least six-fold.

“This puts the poorest and most vulnerable children at the greatest risk.

“Children are not the only ones who suffer from poor air quality. Reducing air pollution can help grow economies and combat climate change,” he said.

Omotosho urged the government to provide the enabling environment for the private sector to drive the production of affordable renewable energy in the country.

Lawal, Co-chair of the Advocate for Clean Climate and Environment group, said the number of people residing in Lagos was more than the available landmass in the state.

“Our population per landmass in Lagos State is one issue that has not been taken seriously. Kano State is heavily populated but the population per landmass is less, compared to Lagos State.

“This means that for every Lagosian that breaths out carbon dioxide, he takes oxygen and performs other anthropogenic activities that involve emissions of greenhouse gases.

“Lagos with more population per landmass should invariably get more trees,” he said, noting that tree planting should be taken up by government, corporate bodies and individuals.

“The government should enact a legislation to protect the already existing trees. So, trees should not be cut down without a permit or a levy being paid.

“Government should also embark on tree planting projects. This could be done on all the median of newly constructed roads, establishment of new parks with trees and creation of government reserves.

“Companies and industries should adopt tree planting projects as their CSR after all, they contribute to the problem of climate change and more.

“Individuals should also ensure that trees become a vital part of their homes. They should embrace street tree planting and protect the trees.

According to him, tree planting will balance the micro-climate in the environment and mitigate the effects of generator fumes and gas flares, emitting greenhouse gases.

“Trees create a micro-climate around areas where they grow. The farther you are from a tree the poorer the climate becomes in Lagos State,” Lawal said.

By Mercy Okhiade and Deji Abdulwahab

Environmental leaders, activists and advocates gathered at the Vatican City on Thursday, July 5, 2018 with Pope Francis to kick off a two-day Vatican-organised conference with a sense of urgency and unity. Together they hope to emerge with a momentum for greater action and a shared vision for protecting our planet.

Inspired by the third anniversary of the Pope’s seminal encyclical on the issue – titled Laudato si’ – political and religious leaders, scientists, economists and heads of civil society organisations came together to discuss how to awaken people to the gravity of the situation and inspire a “massive movement” of cooperative action and moral responsibility to our planet.

UN Environment’s Executive Director, Erik Solheim, will address the convocation on the second day of the meetings titled: “Acting Together to Save our Common Home”.

“The challenges we face around climate change, biodiversity loss and deforestation are daunting. The science – as so ably outlined in Laudato si’ – is unambiguous,” Erik Solheim wrote in his remarks for the conference. “We are reaching, surpassing and ignoring global environmental tipping points that are causing enormous problems for humanity and hitting the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest.”

Having drawn inspiration from the call for unity and action in the encyclical, UN Environment introduced their Interfaith Rainforest Initiative at the conference. The new international alliance is a platform for religious leaders and faith-based communities to work hand-in-hand with indigenous peoples, governments, civil society and businesses on actions that protect rainforests.

“This is just one example of how new kinds of collaboration across sectors can bring forth real solutions,” said Solheim.

In Laudato si’, Pope Francis, who has emerged as an avid advocate for the environment since his appointment, condemned the collective negligence on behalf of the planet and called for strong and immediate action on climate change.

“Young people demand change,” the encyclical letter reads.” They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded.”

Since taking up his post, the Pope has repeatedly called to bridge the divide between communities in protection of our commonly inherited earth, lobbying with political leaders and private sector chiefs alike to urge the need for acting together to save the earth.

The international conference, organised by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, highlighted the personal accounts of victims of environmental crises, reflecting on how to understand and respond to these crises and envisage the journey ahead for a sustainable world.

The event will set the stage for a series of important dialogues on the subject to follow,
including the Global Climate Action Summit in California, the annual International Monetary Fund-World Bank meeting in Bali, and the COP 24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland.

The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) says a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) to Aghoro community in Bayelsa State is underway to investigate the cause of an oil leak in the neighbourhood.

It will be recalled that an oil leakage occurred on May 17, 2018 at an oilfield operated by SPDC in Aghoro, Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa.

Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, the Media Relations Manager of SPDC, told NAN in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Thursday, July 5, 2018 via a telephone interview that the oil firm had convened a joint investigation team to visit the area.

He, however, regretted that the rains and swampy nature of the area were hampering the spill response operations.

Reacting to allegations of delayed response to the spill which was reported in May, Odugbesan said that the allegations were baseless, adding that Shell was doing everything possible to control the spill.

“We have been working round-the-clock since the leak occurred; we got the report and as we speak, the JIV is underway but it is not yet concluded because there are three leak points in Aghoro community.

“The JIV team, comprising SPDC officials, regulators, community representatives and Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment officials must visit the three spots before arriving at a conclusion.

“The JIV report will indicate the cause of the spill as well as the estimated volume of crude that was discharged into the area,” he added.

However, community sources in Aghoro told NAN that the investigation team had so far visited two out of the three leak points.

Mr Agbai John, a resident who was part of the JIV team, told NAN that preliminary findings indicated that the oil leaks were traced to corroded pipelines.

He said that sabotage was ruled out because the pipelines, which were buried about three metres underground, showed no signs that they had been tampered with prior to their exhumation with swamp boogie equipment.

Meanwhile, the Oil and Gas Producing Areas Enlightenment and Empowerment Initiative (OGPAEEI), a community-based civil society group, has urged SPDC to expedite action in dealing with the oil spill in the area and bring relief to the victims.

A spokesman for the group, Dr Anapurere Awoli, told NAN that the prolonged exposure of residents of the community to crude oil had exposed them to certain health challenges.

He said that there had been reported cases of respiratory diseases amongst the people, thereby underscoring the need for urgent medical intervention.

Awoli said that OGPAEEI had appealed to SPDC to pay adequate attention to the welfare of the residents of the Aghoro neighbourhood, while attending to the oil spill.

“Our organisation seeks peace and harmony; we have advised Shell to give a human face to its spill response activities by factoring in the welfare of those residents who were affected by the spill.

“They should be meticulous in their damage assessment; they should ensure that all the people who were adversely affected by the oil spill are considered for compensation; that is what usually breeds conflicts and they should nip it in the bud.

“The rains are here and this somewhat makes the terrain even more challenging.

“We have equally asked the residents to engage the services of competent valuers to help them compute their losses for compensation,” he said.

By Nathan Nwakamma