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22—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 26, 2022
Fragile Emmission Targets as
Egypt picks up COP27 baton
By Sonny Atumah
Environment matters have dominated
global discourses since the last quarter of
the 20th century. Global warming
continues to be a matter of serious
thought as the global climatic conference moved
from Glasgow, Scotland, the 2021 hosts of the
26th Conference of the Parties (COP 26), to
Sharm el-Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt for COP
27. The Conference which started last Sunday, 6
November ends on Friday, 18 November, 2022.
The global discourse has been for investments in
clean technologies and in low-carbon
infrastructure, especially in emerging and the
less developed countries. For the COP27 host
country, Egypt, a range of topics focused on
enhancing implementation and raising ambition
on broad range of issues related to climate
change have been identified. Egypt has
designated several thematic days for focused
discussions. This event also marks the 30th
anniversary of the adoption of the 1992 Rio
Convention, known as the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC). The Rio Convention set out the
legal framework and principles for international
climate change cooperation to stabilise
atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases
(GHGs), and avoid the dangerous human
influence on the environment.
Paris Agreement and
Implementation
From Kyoto in 1997, Talks progressed with mull
over of emission reduction targets. In 2015, 196
Parties comprising industrial, emerging and less
developed countries subscribed to a legally
binding international treaty on climate change at
the 21st Conference of the Parties also known as
the COP 21 Paris Agreement, which entered into
force on 4 November 2016. Article 2 of the Paris
Agreement, seeks to strengthen the global
response to climate change, reaffirm the goal of
collective government targets and pledges to
bring global average temperature to well below 2
°C, preferably to 1.5 °C, compared to preindustrial
levels.
The Paris Agreement was to determine, plan,
and regularly report on the nationally
determined contributions (NDCs) to mitigate
climate change. It is also to increase the ability to
adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change
and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse
gas emission development in a manner that does
not threaten food production. It is also to make
finance flows consistent with a pathway towards
low greenhouse gas emission and climateresilient
development. Parties are expected to
submit aggregate progress on mitigation,
adaptation, and means of implementation, which
are reviewed every five years. The targets and
pledges, if delivered in full and on time, could
hold global warming but the reality is that the
Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)
are not enough to limit the increase of the
average global temperature to 2 °C in 2050.
The crises of climate change, biodiversity loss
and pollution are thought-provoking global
issues that the contemplation is to take CO‚ out
of the air. Top three heavy global emitters of
carbon dioxide are China (27.6 percent), United
States (14.5 percent), and India (6.7 percent).
South Africa, Egypt and Algeria are the only
African countries in the top 40 global carbon
dioxide emitters. To achieve long-term goal of
global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions for
net zero, countries should pursue it in an
effective, affordable and equitable manner to
reverse climate change. The perception of the
Agreement is that it is a turning point in the
multilateral climate change process because for
the first time a binding agreement has brought
all nations into a common cause to combat
climate change and adapt to its effects.
Articles 9, 10, 11 of the Paris Agreement
provides a framework for financial, technical and
capacity building support respectively to those
countries who need it. To what extent have
developed countries provided the needed
assistance to the less developed and more
vulnerable countries for mitigation and
adaptation to the adverse effects and reduce the
impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement
Continues on www.vanguardngr.com
By Anthony Osas Okungbowa Esq.
Nigeria is experiencing its worst annual
tragedy of rampaging floods which has
led to the death of over six hundred people
with over 300,000 homes submerged in the
surging flood. Farmlands and other livelihoods
have not been spared, thereby raising concerns
of possible food shortages and high cost of goods.
At present, out of Nigeria’s 36 states, 34 are
battling with the floods, with the coastal states of
Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom being the
worst hit. Anambra State is also badly hit by the
raging flood. Among these flood-impacted states,
Bayelsa appears to be the worst hit as the Niger
Delta state has been tactically cut off from the
nation as a result of the fiendish flooding, with
access roads leading in and out of the state either
submerged or completely washed away. At the
last count, about 700,000 persons had been
displaced in the state alone with a number of
deaths recorded.
An assessment of impacted areas revealed
that the flood had submerged houses, farmlands,
schools, health centres, police stations, churches
and other critical infrastructure. The only means
of transportation in affected areas is by boat
because the access roads to the communities have
been submerged by flood.
Even Abuja, the nation’s seat of power is
under threat of the flood sweeping from the Kogi
State capital, Lokoja. My dear State, Edo has
had its fair share of the surge of large bodies of
water overflowing the banks of the River Niger,
forcing helpless residents to seek alternative
shelters. Some settlements like Udaba Ekperi,
Anegbete and Osomhe-Egbe etc, in Etsako East
and Etsako Central Local Governments Areas of
the state were not spared of the rampaging flood.
Large numbers of families have been affected
and displaced persons keep increasing with each
passing day as the torrential rains, as earlier
predicted by the Nigeria Hydrological Services
Agency, and the release of water from the Lagdo
Dam in Cameroon continues. Thousands of
hectares of farmland have been destroyed.
Hunger is a clear and present danger as the
agriculture chain has been grossly disrupted.
The National Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA) is at its wits end while the State
Emergency Management Agencies
(SEMA) can hardly cope with the onslaught
of water. Nigeria is indeed facing a beyondthe-pale
disaster.
However, the Edo State Emergency
Management Agency has risen to the
challenge posed by the surging floods with
the delivery of relief materials to displaced
persons in the Internally Displaced Persons
IDP camps. It has now become a recurrent
factor that Nigeria records flooding every
year. This is virtually always a result of the
non-implementation of environmental
guidelines, lack of preventive infrastructure,
and lackluster attitude in tackling the flood
menace over the years.
What could we have done before the rains
to prevent this? The authorities need to take
pre-emptive measures to address flooding.
Whenever the floods appear, we resort to
what is known in local parlance as the “fire
brigade approach” and blame games. Some
have attributed the yearly flooding to “water
overflowing” from some local rivers, unusual
rainfalls and the release of excess water from
Lagdo Dam in neighbouring Cameroon’s
northern region.
The issue of the release of water from
Lagdo Dam in Cameroon has been described
After the flood; What next?
as a twice-told story that needs to be tackled at the
highest diplomatic level between Nigeria and
Cameroon proponents of this view argue that it
flies in the face of reason that Cameroon officialdom
acts as though unaware of the havoc wreaked on
Nigeria by flood waters coming from its Dam. In
their opinion, the heart-rending economic
devastation and hardship must not continue,
charging the federal government to take measures
economically, politically, and diplomatically to check
a recurrence by deploying strategies including the
construction of a halting dam on the Benue River
to absorb the waters released from the Lagdo dam
as a means of protecting the properties of Nigerians
and their means of livelihood.
On the local front, the Nigeria Hydrological
Services Agency had predicted more flooding this
year than last year due to “excessive rainfalls.”
NEMA had also alerted states of “serious
consequences” in the weeks and months ahead.
Unfortunately, not much was done by the
authorities proactively to avoid the catastrophic
consequences have now resulted. Incidentally, two
of the country’s dams have also started to overflow.
According to NEMA’s Director General, Mustapha
Habib Ahmed, “I want to advise all the governments
of the frontline states to move away communities
at risk of inundation, identify safe higher grounds
for evacuation of persons as well as ensure
adequate stockpiles of food and non-food items.”
The reports available show that in Jigawa State
in the Northwest, floods killed more than 20 people
in the past week, as revealed by Yusuf Sani Babura,
Head of the Jigawa State Emergency Management
Agency. Beyond that, Jigawa has recorded 91
deaths from flooding this year, more than any other
state in the country. Babura stated sadly: “We are
facing devastating floods beyond our control. We
have tried our best and we couldn’t stop it.”
In Anambra State, NEMA confirmed the death
of some persons while trying to escape the surging
flood in a crowded boat. NEMA further revealed
that at least 651,053 persons in six local government
areas of the State have so far been displaced by
flooding. From NEMA’s record on Anambra,
Ogbaru has the highest number of victims with
286,000 persons.
Taking measures to mitigate the impact of the
disaster devoid of any political consideration is
recommended. Such measures should include the
creation of Internally Displaced People’s (IDP)
camps and the identification of high grounds to
relocate the displaced people.
There is a clear emergency in the land. Many
schools in the riverine communities have been
shut. There is an urgent need to supply clothing,
diapers, bedding, sanitary materials, sundry food
items, and other relief materials to salvage a very
bad situation that the states cannot tackle alone.
Therefore, the federal government should step in
and treat it as a national emergency.
Treating the flood disaster as a national
emergency entails strict adherence to flood
prevention and control strategies. This can only be
achieved through a deliberate and concerted effort
at making effective flood mitigation measures and
proper planning a national culture. The people
should be effectively sensitized on the need to
drop all non-environmental friendly habits such as
the practice of dumping refuse in drains and adhere
strictly to planning rules and regulations. Many of
these measures should be taken in areas that are
prone to flooding.
This is because when drainages are improved,
there will be easy flow of flood water during rainfall.
This type of measure could be taken in urban areas
where there are flooding issues. The efficacy of
drainages, therefore, becomes a handy tool to
improve flood control.
Continues on www.vanguardngr.com