BY IMUMONLEN ALEX
The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), in collaboration with the Centre for Climate Change and Development, Alex Ekwueme University (CCCD-AEFUNAI), Ebonyi State, has launched a nation-wide survey on sub-national action on climate change.
The survey aims to collect stakeholders’ perspectives on the impact of climate change on Nigeria’s 36 states and Abuja, as well as the actions taken by the states to adapt to climate change in their respective jurisdictions. The survey also seeks to identify the nature and breadth of climate policies and projects being implemented across the federation’s states.
The study is part of a project being undertaken by the SPP, a Nigerian registered non-governmental organisation (NGO), to help raise awareness of climate change at the sub-national level in Nigeria.
Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of SPP, stated that the initiative is envisioned as a first step to galvanise awareness for climate action at sub-national levels in Nigeria and ensure improved climate change action and resilience among state actors.
He stated that the project would assess the level of climate change awareness and action in the federation’s 36 states, including the FCT, as well as the willingness of states to engage and increase their action, as well as the type of support they will require from national and international development partners in this regard.
According to Professor Okereke, there has long been a realisation that most climate action and policy in Nigeria have been centred at the national level, with very few actions taking place at the state level.
He stated that the initiative provides an opportunity to document what is happening at the state level and determine which states are leaders and which are laggards in climate policy and action.
Professor Okereke stated that the project would assess Nigerian states based on their degrees of climate action, as well as their needs and priorities, and will create an evidence base to promote climate awareness and action at the sub-national level in Nigeria.
He added that the project outcome would be of benefit to many people within and outside Nigeria including the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), which recently announced its intention to partner with various agencies to address the menace of flooding in their states and international development partners that will be looking to fund climate change action at the subnational level in Nigeria.