No fewer than 48 young people selected from the six states in Nigeria’s South South Zone have been trained on global warming and climate change mitigation in Port Harcourt.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day training tagged “Youth Climate Incubation Hub’’ was concluded on Friday in Port Harcourt for the selected youths.
The exercise was conducted by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), a non-governmental Organisation, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Environment and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
According to Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, an environmental Activist and Director, HOMEF, the training seeks to harvest ideas on mitigation of global warming and climate change challenges in Nigeria.
The Director of the ecological think tank also said that similar exercise would be conducted in 11 states to enhance environmental education in the country.
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He said that the training was in line with Mr. António Guterres, the United Nation’s Secretary-General’s desire to get countries around the world to improve on the level of admission on climate action.
“If you look at the whole scenario you will see that the youth will be the ones to be the worst impacted because the impact of global warming are still coming to the future.
“So, they are here to bring out their ideas on what government and global leaders can do to tackle the action; we want to get practical ideas from young people at the end of the day,” he said.
Bassey also said that the greatest action government could take on gas flaring was to stop it and not to reduce it.
“If government can stop gas flaring by the year 2020 it will be a great achievement for the people to be released from the embarrassment on our environmental health and our children’s health,” Bassey said.
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He also said that the PIB bill should be put in place to penalize anybody or company that defaults on gas flaring in the country.
Bassey called on government to take the ideas of youths on how to tackle climate global warm serious because it’s their future and that of their children.
Mr Sheyifumi Adebosey, a youth activist, said that young people were the second most important group in addressing climate change because it is about their future.
Adebosey, who said that youth action on climate change to protect our environment had national value, also renewed the call for urgency in tackling the global climate change.
Also, Miss Anumenechi Stephanie, the Digital Communication Head of International Climate Change Development Initiative Africa (ICCDI), called for government’s collaboration with companies and NGOs to stop gas flaring.
She said that such collaboration should ensure that gas is used for economic growth instead of being flared.
Select youths from Akwa Ibom; Bayelsa; Cross River; Delta; Edo and Rivers States were part of the Youth Climate Incubation Hub. (NAN)
