Marrakesh Convention: Adejuwon wants CSOs to monitor delegates

As Nigeria prepares to meet the rest of the world in Marrakech, Morocco for the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled to commence in two weeks time, environmentalists have urged support for the country’s delegates to the convention.
Samuel Adejuwon, Nigeria’s erstwhile climate chief, has specifically tasked civil society organizations (CSOs) which play pivotal role at the convention, to pay close attention to details and be the eye of the country’s delegation in every session they cover.
At a one-day session in Abuja recently that featured a Pre-COP22 Strategic Meeting and Launch of the Nigeria Labour Congress’ (NLC) Climate Change Policy document, Adejuwon, advised the CSOs to always pass thorough and privileged information to the country’s delegation which may help influence decisions at the COP.
The COP will be featuring the 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP12) and the 1st Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement.
Adejuwon commended Samuel Onuigbo, chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change, for his commitment and support for his work, pointing out however that such support would yield no result without the support and efforts of the National Assembly (NASS) as a whole.
Environ News quotes the climate chief as saying that the support of the NASS was needed to help fund the implementation of the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) as, according to him, inadequate funding might forestall its execution.
“How are you looking at making laws that will help Nigeria transit to green economy even with technology and expertise import? How will you ensure funding for CSOs and carry them along in all the processes of your work? When will the Climate Change Commission Bill be passed into law? Are you factoring in gender balance in all your works?”, he queried.
In response, Onuigbo assured that his committed had done a lot of work since he was appointed into this position in November 2015. “We have been able to establish that all MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies) of government can be held accountable for what they do to the environment and how they comply with international conventions to which Nigeria is signatory to”, he assured further.
Continuing, he said, “we were able to identify impacted ministries and explain to them why they were under the oversight function of the NASS Committee on Climate Change. We will continue to do a lot of work that will allow the ease of implementation for the Paris Agreement. The Climate Change Commission Bill was scuttled when it got to the stage for assent for some unknown reasons, but we are working on a new one now. We will make provisions for interactive session in our budget to encourage this kind of forum.”
The legislator commended federal government’s commitment to climate change which, he said, had been obvious but capped by the recent signing of the Paris Agreement in New York. He promised that the House would continue to do its best to support work on climate change and commended the NLC for its efforts. Citing the drying up of Lake Chad as a typical and current example of how devastating climate change can be, he urged all to change and join the effort to mitigate the effects of climate change.