Nigeria Solicits For Ambitious Climate Change response for  ECOWAS region 

The Nigerian government has called on the international community to be more ambitious in its climate Change response.

Dr, Salako also said that Nigeria will to continue to play her leadership role in mobilizing and organizing West Africa to protect its regional biodiversity.

He said the meeting is to plan the next steps and to turn Africa ambitions into concrete actions.

“The President of my country President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, who is also the Chairman of ECOWAS is a committed environment advocate and climate hero who has prioritized sustainability as a core principle of his economic agenda. The 3 planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is therefore receiving adequate attention in the presidential mandated deliverables of the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment. ” The Minister said.

Dr Salako however, noted that the population of climate migrants and environmental displaced people is rising in ECOWAS subregion.

“This is why your presence in this room is so vital, as you are entrusted with an important mandate to produce a regional 30 by 30 implementation plan which seeks to secure the effective protection of at least 30% of the ECOWAS region to preserve our life-giving ecosystems and to halt immediately the human-induced extinction of wild species.” He explained.

According to him, “Just three months ago, in this very room, the Government of Nigeria hosted the ECOWAS Coordination Meeting for Prompt Ratification of the BBNJ Treaty to pave the way towards the adoption of measures to highly and fully protect 30% of our oceans. And before then in October 2022, again in this very room, our region adopted targeted guidance on the implementation of 30 by 30 which we will endeavor to refine in the coming days.”

Dr Salako also stated that ECOWAS on the planet is massively represented within the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which all ECOWAS countries joined to advocate for a commitment to expand protected areas to at least 30% of the Planet by 2030.

The Minister further stressed that the healthier our region’s biodiversity is, the better it will be in withstanding future climate and biodiversity shocks and the more resilient to continue to deliver for the people.

“The ECOWAS region is the only part of the world that is looking at its contribution to halting biodiversity loss through a regional lens a template critical for global success and to securing nature for future generations.” He said.

The Minister however commended the partners; United Nations Development Programme, Bloomberg ocean, Campaign for nature and Blue Nature we acknowledge and appreciate you for providing both financial and technical support.

Ecowas representative, Benard Koffi, in his presentation in French language said that the ECOWAS countries have played a significant role in securing the adoption of the global commitment to expand protected areas to 30% of the Planet by 2030.

He said the regional body have demonstrated collaboration, expertise, and strength in our advocacy for the protection of our natural heritage.

“We are matching good intentions with concrete actions to show the World that we are ready to expand our protected areas and strengthen their effectiveness. We have a shared responsibility to act by expanding and strengthening our protected areas because degraded ecosystems threaten the physical security, economic security, and food security both of local communities and multinational businesses, because ECOWAS member States share diverse ecosystems of international conservation importance.” He said.

Mr Koffi also noted that it is vital to ensure the ECOWAS contribution to the expansion of protected areas is implemented through an ECOWAS-wide approach to enable ECOWAS countries to jointly identify priorities taking into account existing conservation measures across the region.

“Today, we pave the way towards achieving a bold new vision to cooperate to protect 30% of our ecosystems so that we benefit now and so that our children and grandchildren will share in those benefits long into the future, when we set aside biodiverse areas for protection.” He stated.

He said the ECOWAS must commit to protect biodiverse areas effectively by ensuring no environmentally damaging activity is allowed.

“Through this meeting, you will work together on four major steps towards protecting 30% of the ECOWAS region. You will first develop a process to undertake an assessment of the gaps in our regional network of protected areas to identify where we may expand and improve them. Then you will launch the development of a short and medium term regional action plan to address these gaps. Next, you will propose mechanisms to monitor and fund the expansion and strengthening of our protected areas.” He added

Ecowas representative Benard Koffi, further urged all participants at the meeting to work together to provide targeted support and guidance for updating and harmonizing sections of our countries’ National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans launching the development of an ECOWAS Biodiversity Strategy.

Development partners at the event shared their plans and expectations in the execution of the Vision 30by30.