Lara Adejoro
The Federal Ministry of Environment has identified inadequate funding as one of the primary challenges facing the environmental sector.
This was made known by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mahmud Kambari at the technical session of the 17th meeting of the National Council on Environment themed, ‘Environment financing: Need to mobilise more windows for generating adequate resources in support of environmental sustainability efforts,’ on Monday in Abuja.
The council is Nigeria’s highest policy-making body on the environment sector, and part of its duties includes deliberating and guiding consultations on environmental issues.
Mahmud noted that the meeting will help in reflecting on the pivotal role of environmental stewardship in shaping Nigeria’s future.
He stated, “As you are aware, one of the foremost challenges confronting our sector is the issue of funding. Despite the undeniable significance of environmental preservation to human well-being, successive administrations have struggled to allocate resources commensurate with the scale and urgency of environmental challenges.
“It is important, therefore, that we shine a spotlight on the critical issue of financing, with the aim of devising robust funding models and exploring diverse avenues for resource generation to address the sectoral needs effectively.”
Mahmud noted that the technical session will be collapsed into six thematic clusters to enable in-depth discussions on the various memoranda by the Technical Working Groups of experts.
“The groups have been constituted based on the major thematic areas in the environment sector as follows -climate change and renewable energy; forestry, drought and desertification; pollution control and environmental health; flood, erosion, coastal zone management; environmental impact assessment and regulation issues; and institutional governance.
“It is expected the outcome of your discussions will serve as a blueprint for actionable policies and programs by the Council, aligning with global best practices and contributing to the realization of our national development objectives,” the permanent secretary said.
He urged participants to actively engage, drawing upon their wealth of experiences, insights and technical expertise to enrich their discussions.
“Let us harness the collective wisdom and intellectual capital assembled here today to chart a sustainable path forward for Nigeria’s environmental agenda.
Together, let us embark on this journey of collaboration and innovation, committed to safeguarding our environment for generations to come,” he added.
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