Some climate change experts have called for increased climate investments to boost job creation and revitalise rural areas.
The experts spoke during the launch of Climate Action Africa (CMA) Labs on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 in Lagos. The experts also described the launch of the hub as an important and strategic move.
CMA Lab is an initiative dedicated to drive climate research, commercialisation, testing, and validation of innovative solutions.
Speaking during the panel session, Olivia Rumble, Director, Climate Legal and Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Cape Town, stressed the need for Nigeria to embrace urgent climate action for economic growth and development.
Rumble, a climate change legal and policy expert, underlines that efforts remain insufficient to address climate change. She noted that to keep this goal alive, it was critical for industry stakeholders to work with the government to strengthen its climate action plans.
Rumble called on the government to revisit its climate plans to address the climate emergency.
Dr Michael Ochei, lecturer, Department of Meterorolgy & Climate Science, Federal University of Technology, Akure, maintained that scaling up climate adaptation would impact agricultural productivity. Ochei called for more efforts to enhance climate action to help scale up the climate resilience of agrifood value chains.
Grace Oluchi, Co-Founder, Climate Action Africa, said the organisation has established a digital service platform to address the problems of climate change, review problems from different perspectives and design new approaches for solving challenges.
Oluchi said the negative impacts of climate crises across the country underscored the need to build resilience through a combination of measures, including adaptation strategies and policy actions.
According to her, to address the nation’s vulnerability to climate change, Climate Action Africa embarked on several interventions as well as highlighting its significant effects on the economy through media advocacy campaigns.
Given the projected increase in the intensity and frequency of climate effects, she noted that it was imperative for infrastructure investments to counter climate effects. Jiata Ekele, Project Assistant, She Leads Climate Action, indicated that Nigeria faces the risks of climate change effects, stressing the importance of developing resilience.
Ekele called for a coordinated response that would effectively address climate change. Sustainability expert, Nneka Ukay, outlined the need for capacity building and enhancing national partnerships for the effective management and response to climate-related issues.
Ukay urged organisations to collaborate towards building institutional capacity to undertake enhanced climate planning through effective cross-sectoral coordination. She said private sector actors can play a stronger role as financiers, innovators, and strengthen market linkages and be providers of climate-friendly goods and services.
Mrs Folake Salawu, Programme Coordinator and Senior Conversation Manager, Nigerian Conservation Foundation, said transition to a decarbonised and circular industry would offer Nigeria significant opportunities for economic growth and access to new markets.
Salawu said the launch of CMA Labs provides a historic window of opportunity to create innovative, green products and attract the deployment of new technologies.
She said besides enhancing capacities to identify and increase access to climate finance and investment, the priorities for the sector should include supporting knowledge and capacity-building and developing policy support and dialogue.
According to her, universities could share their experiences and training and research facilities. She emphasised the need for a transformation of institutions and services, and for dialogue and collaboration between ministries, policymakers, and implementers within the sector.