African CSOs Advocate Concrete Climate Action As COP27 Beckons

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Ahead of the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holding Egypt this month, a coalition of Nigerian and African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have canvassed for concrete action to address climate change.

The CSOs gave the charge at the Abuja Climate Caravan, an event which featured display of Arts for Climate by students which gathered at the Millennium Park and later followed by a street walk to the Green Building at Maitama axis of Nigeria’s federal capital city.

The Abuja Climate Caravan is an initiative of Oxfam in Nigeria, which is aimed at bringing CSOs and representatives of climate impacted communities together to demand for pragmatic climate action.

The event was organized by Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), with the support of Oxfam in Nigeria, a group of independent Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) formed Oxfam International in 1995, to share knowledge and resources and combine their efforts in the fight against poverty and injustice.

GIFSEP is a non-profit organization founded on the ideals of environment education, climate change adaptation and mitigation, renewable energy and sustainable development. Its mission is to mobilize communities to build resilience to a changing climate, to conserve and protect the environment.

Meanwhile, more than a hundred African civil society organizations are currently traveling across 28 countries including Nigeria to Egypt to present their Joint Declaration calling for more climate justice.

Together, the 28 participating countries expect their Heads of State and Government to defend the interests of their own populations, in particular by supporting the agro-ecological transition and protecting the rights of farming communities by preserving natural environments and by demanding greater accountability from emitting countries to finance adaptation measures on the continent.

Team Lead-GIFSEP for the Abuja Climate Caravan Team, Mr. David Michael Terungwa said the proceedings at COP27 should give adequate representation to the youth and women in order to achieve better and more inclusive outcomes.

“The process, we emphasize, must promote better representation of youth and women in decision-making bodies. We also call on the rich countries to live up to its climate commitments from the Paris Agreement – including mobilizing $100 billion a year for climate action in developing countries through 2025 and to take its fair share of this climate crisis that particularly affects the African continent including Nigeria.

“This movement of unison reflects the magnitude of the climate crisis in Africa. The continent is facing an unprecedented hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa and West Africa – 66 million people are facing hunger in part because of droughts that are becoming more frequent and severe as rainfall becomes more erratic and unpredictable. As a report released last week by Oxfam reminded us, rich countries’ aid to West Africa to cope with climate change is insufficient and is dangerously increasing debt levels”, he said.

Mr. Terungwa also harped on need for the Nigerian Government to go beyond signing agreement and policy statements without real action on the ground. He added that climate induced floods in the past one month caused the death of over 600 people, displaced millions of people, with farms and farm lands washed away with very slow response.

“While we demand for climate finance and loss and damage during international negotiations. We must help our people build resilience.

“As we head into the 2023 general elections Nigeria’s and the media should interrogate the candidates on their plans for climate action and should vote for candidates who show a clear understanding of the issues. We should vote for climate. We want Climate Justice Now!”, he stressed.