President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday called on the international community to increase financial and technological support to African countries to cope with the challenges of climate change.
He hinted that Nigeria would host the preparatory meeting of the African Group of Negotiations under the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocols next month in Abuja to ensure the effective co-ordination and harmonisation of the continent's positions before the Bali Conference on Climate Change.
Contributing to the interactive debate on climate change at the United Nations (UN) headquarters, New York, Yar'Adua said that the international community needed to treat Africa as a "special case".
According to him, "Africa contributes the least to global warning but the region is the most vulnerable and most adversely affected by climate change; and because African countries lack the capacity and financial resources to adapt to climate change, the international community needs to treat the continent as a special case.
"There is a critical need to intensify financial support, transfer of appropriate and affordable technology, and capacity building to assist African countries in meeting with the challenges of climate change. As we approach the conference in Bali, we in Africa will like to stress the need to operationalise, as soon as possible, the Special Climate Change and Adaptation Funds to assist developing countries," he said
Yar'Adua also told the global gathering that with its high population, Nigeria was extremely vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, saying that the combined effects of desertification and soil erosion had a continuing negative effect on agricultural production and the country's biodiversity.
He added that the trend had also affected the ability of Nigeria and other African countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MPGs), and have also been a major contributing factor to some conflicts on the continent.
The President also called for greater global support for the African Union's Green Wall Sahara Initiative, which was launched in Abuja last year to check desert encroachment.
He affirmed Nigeria's full commitment to the implementation of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) environmental initiative for the control of erosion, flooding and coastal management.
From Madu Onuorah, Abuja
The Guardian
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
