Enugu, March 17, 2022
Former Chairman, House Committee on Climate Change, Rep. Sam Onuigbo has called for the inauguration of a Council on Climate Change.
He made the call on Wednesday, at the first international conference of the Centre for Environmental Management and Control, (CEMAC) University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), which held in Enugu.
The conference with theme: “Climate Change in COVID-19 Era” was organised in collaboration with School of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, China.
Onuigbo, representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North and South Federal Constituency of Abia, said the Council is one of the pathways to injecting life into the Climate Change Act.
It is recalled that Onuigbo sponsored the Climate Change Bill, which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Nov. 18, 2021.
The lawmaker, who was the Chairman of the conference, said that it was important to embark on aggressive awareness campaign to intimate the public on the Climate Change law and its provisions.
He called for concerted efforts to build the knowledge capacity of entities identified in the Act with specific obligations such as Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the private sector.
According to him, the provisions of Section 22 of the Act explicitly highlight this.
“Based on this provision, a member of staff of the MDA of the Directorate cadre must head the Climate Change Desk of the MDA.
“This Director is mandated to ensure adequate budgeting and planning for all climate change programs, projects, and activities,” he said.
In his remarks, Prof. Charles Igwe, the Vice Chancellor of UNN lauded the Centre for the initiative noting that the theme of the conference “is very proper especially now that the global populace is challenged by extreme insatiable climatic conditions and further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He explained that those challenges had engaged various governments, policy makers, scientists, businesses and others across the world.
Also, the Director of CEMAC, Prof. Anene Moneke, said the conference was designed to create a platform for participants to interact and share their interests and expertise on environmental issues in the COVID-19 era.
He said that the Centre was created in 2004, with the foremost objective of promoting academic excellence in the area of environmental management through research, teaching and consultancy.
In a goodwill message, Prof. Yang-Chun Yong of Jiangsu University, China, expressed urgent need for scientists to find solutions to the challenges of climate change and COVID-19.
Highlight of the event was the conferment of Excellence Award in Environmental Governance on Onuigbo by the Centre.
Also recognised among others were Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor, the Minister of State for Environment, who bagged Excellence Award in Environmental Advocacy and the VC of UNN, Prof. Charles Igwe – Excellence Award in Sustainability.
