Abuja – An environmentalist, Mr Atayi Babs, said on Monday that addressing the impact of climate change would help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SDGs are expected to replace the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the end of 2015.
Babs told NAN in Abuja that climate change issues were linked with the achievements of SDGs and other development agenda.
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Babs is the National Network Coordinator for Climate Change Sustainable Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation (CSDevNet).
“We believe that without achieving climate change, Sustainable Development Goals will be a far cry. Why would it be a far cry, because climate impact is affecting nearly every aspect of our national life.
“It is affecting the entire globe; climate crisis has led to climate immigrants, it has led to conflicts that has made children to be out of school, it has led to the increase of the number of Internally Displaced Persons we have in this country.
“So, you cannot talk about sustainable development without addressing climate change.
“ If we address climate change, the number of people that will suffer from the impact of flood will be reduced.
“If we address climate change, the level of health- related complications that arise from gas flaring, from oil pollution will reduce.
“As long as desertification continue to impact some communities in the North East part of Nigeria, the country cannot talk about Sustainable Development Goals.’’
According to him, the word sustainable development is how to sustain the environment and how to enhance the standard of living of people in general.
Babs said that the environment needed to be managed effectively to be able to achieve the SDGs as they were all about equality and addressing poverty.
“Sustainable development is about equality, its about creating systems for people to live lives that have nothing to do with poverty, climate change induces poverty to great extent in Nigeria.
“Many people are poor today because of the depleting effect of climate change as evidence in water stress, evidence in pollution, evidence in distortions in the weather configurations.
“Many people cannot go about their daily activities any more as a result of certain changes in our climate.
“Our farmers can no longer guarantee food security for us, because their harvest keep dwindling year in year out as a result of climate change.
“So, we cannot achieve food security, we cannot achieve health for all, we cannot achieve education for all without addressing climate change.’’
Meanwhile, Ban Ki Moon is on two –day visit to Nigeria to discuss the SDGs and climate change as well as the strategies to implement the goals.
NAN, however, reports that the processes of climate talks in Paris and the SDGs shared the same path as they move towards the second half of 2015.
The UN General Assembly is expected to ratify the SDGs in September.
In December, the 21st UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris is also expected to agree on a new climate treaty to be effective from 2030. (NAN)
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