Janet Ogundepo
An environment and climate justice advocate group, Health of Mother Earth Foundation has called on the Federal Government to urgently declare a state of emergency on the environment.
HOMEF made this call in an exclusive statement sent to PUNCH Healthwise to commemorate the 2024 World Environment Day, signed by its Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey.
WED is led by the United Nations Environment Programme and commemorated annually on June 5 to create awareness and advocate urgent action to address the current state of the environment.
The theme for 2024 WED is “Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience” with the slogan, “Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration.”
According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, about 40 per cent of the planet’s land is affected by degradation.
The UN notes that droughts have increased by 29 per cent since 2000 and will affect three-quarters of the world’s population by 2050 if urgent action is not taken.
According to HOMEF’s ED, the 2024 World Environment Day is dedicated to communities whose lands and livelihoods have been lost to extractivism and pollution.
He said, “This year’s celebration urges us to reflect on our stewardship duty towards nature, environment and all living beings rather than continuing with predatory and destructive relationships that negate our well-being.”
Bassey asserted that urgent steps must be taken to halt deforestation, biodiversity erosion and land degradation, adding that without serious climate action, humanity will remain on a downward spiral to multiple crises that are already plaguing the world today.
He noted that the WED offered Nigeria a template for socioeconomic and environmental reexamination and action, adding that now was a good time for reflection and a change of direction.
The HOMEF boss further explained that parts of Africa are ravaged by environmental degradation, water stress and drought and Nigeria is particularly affected by desertification and other ecological harms.
“As we celebrate World Environment Day, we remind ourselves that our environment has been plagued with destructive activities, especially through resource extraction and poor land-use changes.
“Nigeria needs an emergency environmental restoration plan across the board as the only way to build resilience and ensure a safe future.
“This is our duty to ourselves and to future generations and immediate steps should be taken by the Nigerian government to ensure the proper clean-up of polluted lands, restoration of same and payment of compensation for damage suffered,” Bassey stated.
He further warned, “We must wake up from the futile dream that the earth can be recklessly exploited without dire consequences. We need to understand that the generous gifts of Nature must be handled with gratitude and care.
“We are living witnesses to the crimes committed in mining communities, oil fields and conflict zones. We must protect our biodiversity, reject species-eroding genetic modifications of all sorts, and support harmonious relationships with nature.”
He also urged the government to ensure that communities are fully informed, consulted, and their consent obtained before designing or implementing projects that impact the environment.
The environmentalist maintained that it must never be forgotten that these communities continuously tackle the impacts of the multidimensional ecological crisis in their unsupported and vulnerable state and deserve to be protected.
“We should transformatively change our policies and choices to live sustainably in harmony with nature, with the complete understanding that the planet is our only home and that her resources are finite,” the HOMEF ED said.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive statement to PUNCH Healthwise, climate change advocates and PhD students at the University of Oklahoma, Abdulamid Fakoya and Henry Olayiwola, called for measures to enhance resilience against desertification and drought.
The meteorologists also advocated urgent mitigation strategies and effective policymaking, including the implementation of sustainable land management practices and the promotion of reforestation, to address human contributions to climate change crises.
Copyright PUNCH
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: health_wise@punchng.com
The post WED: Declare state of emergency on environment, advocacy group urges FG appeared first on Healthwise.