Minister promises more youths involvement in climate change process
Minister of State for the Environment, Barrister Sharon Ikeazor, has said that Nigeria will continue to ensure that young people are part of climate change processes in the country, from consultation to implementation and even at the global level of climate negotiation.
The Minister who stated this in her opening remarks at a webinar on ‘Public participation in Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) drafting and implementation: Experiences from around the world’ organized by the Centre for Climate Change and Development, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo in collaboration with World Resources Institute, Washington, DC on Monday 19 October 2020, disclosed that the ministry will continue engage the youth in climate change decision making, especially on NDC. The virtual event was aimed at experience sharing from around the world with a focus on drafting and implementation processes of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) from across the world.
The Minister said, “In our bid to explore how our Youth could be more involved in climate change decision-making process, especially the NDC, a virtual National Youth Climate Consultation on Nigeria’s NDC Enhancement was convened a few weeks ago. The participation at the webinar was great and we had over 300 sign-ups for the youth working groups. The Youth’s suggested imputes into Nigeria’s NDC at the end of that webinar has been submitted and is being reviewed, we shall see that some of it – if not all, are reflected in the final NDC document.”
Chief Ikeazor also referenced the Regional Youth Climate Innovation Hubs which held across the 6 geopolitical zones harvesting and collating climate-focused innovative ideas driven by young people. She gave credit to youth-led organizations that facilitated the process under the watch of the Department of Climate Change and with the support of the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP). “I am absolutely convinced that public participation is a necessary requirement for accommodating diverse views in climate change decision making and process and, that is why I have been liaising tirelessly with all stakeholders including the youth, women groups, academia, private sector, conservationists, as well as Commissioners of Environment in different geopolitical zones of the Federation, trying to encourage their action not only at the Federal level but also at the Subnational level,” she said.
Appraising the current level of youth engagement by the government, another resource person, Olumide Idowu, the Co-founder of the International Climate Change Development Initiative (ICCDI Africa) said that youth engagement in Nigeria is not tokenistic and called for a more prompt government response to call by young people to embark on more strategic climate action projects across the country.
Huzi Msheilla, an independent consultant who has served as the facilitator of Nigeria’s NDC shed more light on the level of engagement and incorporation of other stakeholders in accelerating climate action in Nigeria. The event was moderated by Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, Director, Center for Climate Change and Development at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Other speakers at the event included Prof. Donald Brown, the Winner of 2019 UNESCO Avicenne Prize for Climate Change Ethics; Dr Thomas Hale of Oxford University; Rachael Rico, Policy Advisor, Italian Climate Network; Dr Malle Fofana of the Global Green Growth at the Republic of Korea; Ms Yamide Dragnet, Director, Climate Negotiations, World Resources Institute; and Jessica Cookie, the Policy Officer at PLAN International.
