BY Vivian Chime
On November 18, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari appended his signature on the climate change bill making it an act.
The bill was sent to Buhari for assent two weeks before the United Nations climate change conference – COP26 — in Glasgow after it had passed the second and third readings at the house of representatives and senate.
However, the president put pen to paper five days after COP26 as a way of solidifying Nigeria’s pledges and its commitments to the Paris agreement.
Also at the conference, the president had among other things said the country will reach net-zero emissions by 2060 and that the Climate Change Act will provide a framework for achieving low greenhouse gas emissions, inclusive green growth and sustainable economic development.
After the president’s assent, Sharon Ikeazor, minister of state for the environment, described the development as Nigeria’s “loudest” statement on fighting climate change.
But six months down the line, implementation seems to be dragging on.
In this article, TheCable looks into what the act set out to achieve and the implications of delayed implementation.
THE CLIMATE CHANGE ACT AND ITS PROVISIONS
The bill that would establish the Climate Change Act was introduced in 2018 by the eighth assembly but was declined by the president in 2019 on the grounds of “contentious clauses” which needed to be addressed. The lawmakers revisited the bill and addressed the president’s concerns and this eventually led to its assent.
The act was expected to set the ball rolling, provide a framework for mainstreaming climate change actions as well as establish a national council on climate change that would help in implementing the following:
‘NON-IMPLEMENTATION LEAVES NIGERIA IN THE DARK’
Experts are of the view that there is a lack of political will to implement the act, despite containing provisions that could set Nigeria on the path to overcoming its climate change challenges.
Hassan Shuaibu, director for environmental studies, University of Abuja, said the non-implementation of the Climate Change Act leaves Nigeria in the dark.
He said the duty now lies with the ministry of environment responsible for the implementation.
He added that if the climate change council is not set up, “we will still be operating in the dark because the arm of the federal ministry of environment that is currently carrying out some of these duties does not have the power that is enshrined in this act when the council is formed. So the implementation of this act is something that Nigerians should push for the government to implement so that the council will come into existence and the activities will take off fully”.
Michael Terungwa, executive director of Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), said Nigeria’s snail-like progress portrays the country negatively, noting that it would inhibit the ability to get funding to tackle climate change challenges.
“If we are asking for climate finance and funding and then we have laws we are not implementing, then it also shows that when the funds come we will also not spend it wisely. It is important that the implementation also begins immediately so that everyone is seeing the seriousness,” he said.
Terungwa is worried that the 2023 elections might overshadow the implementation of the act and also that most of the presidential aspirants are not talking about climate change. He said the annual climate conference has become “a jamboree and an opportunity for people to just travel, get estacodes and participate in the western carnival every November”.
‘TAKE FG TO COURT’
Amid concerns of the elections putting implementation on the back burner, Yahaya Dangana, a legal practitioner, suggests that the federal government should be taken to court and be enforced to implement the law to which it assented.
He said the president needs to be held accountable now and be told that — “this law provided for inauguration, come and inaugurate”.
Dangana advised civil society organisations to work towards securing a mandamus order to compel the government “to discharge his responsibilities”.
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