Story Highlights
- Nigeria faces a potential $460 billion loss by 2050 from climate change, equivalent to 20% of its GDP, posing severe risks to productivity, health, and national well-being.
- Experts stress that climate change isn’t just environmental but an economic and social issue, urging Nigeria to adopt renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and better urban planning.
- Nigerians are encouraged to hold leaders accountable on climate issues and advocate for international climate funding as grants, not loans, to support sustainable development across Africa.
Nigeria is projected to lose approximately $460 billion by 2050 due to the impacts of climate change, equating about 20% of the nation’s GDP.
Speaking at the African Climate Caravan which featured the first inaugural Climate Media Spotlight Award and Arts for Climate event in Abuja, Country Lead, Global Strategic Communications Council and Climate Diplomat, Daniel Oladoja highlighted that climate change is not just an environmental concern but also a significant economic and social issue that threatens productivity, health, and overall well-being.
Oladoja pointed out that despite being one of the countries most affected by climate change, many Nigerians remain largely unconcerned.
He noted that a common misconception attributes climate shifts to divine intervention, overlooking the role of human activities in increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
To combat the looming crisis, Oladoja urged Nigeria to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, adopt more efficient agricultural practices, and rethink urban development to reduce energy consumption.
He said; “A lot of time when climate change is reported, it is reported as an environmental issue, but every day we’re beginning to understand that climate change is an economic issue, it’s a social issue, it’s a health issue, it affects our productivity, it affects our well-being, it affects our economy, it affects everything we do.
“So that is how we come about the four hundred and sixty billion dollars that we’re talking about by 2050, which is just about 26 years away from where we are, right? And the efforts here, the ironic thing about climate change in Nigeria is the fact that, despite the fact that we’re one of the most affected, we’re the least concerned.
“People don’t understand that there are human activities that is leading to increased insolation we’re getting from the sun, or reduced cloud cover, or increased precipitation from rainfall and all of that, or increasing plant and crop diseases, all of these things happening at the same time.
“All of these things are driven by emissions and increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. Of course we are not the ones who created the problem, that has to be said, but we are the ones suffering from it and we should be concerned.
“Even though we cannot reduce emissions, we should be able to speak up, understand the problem, adjust ourselves and prepare for the changes and the transformations we’re seeing.
“And of course the most important thing is climate change is a political problem and Nigerians have to speak about it. We need to get our politicians to talk about and act on climate change.
“When we talk about lack of electricity or the cost of diesel or petrol, who is the first person that is responsible? Government. Because we understand that those issues are political. It’s the same thing with climate change. Politicians can play a role. They can create subsidies, they can create a lot. There’s a lot that politics and politicians can do in terms of policy design about climate change,” Oladoja said.
He emphasized the need for citizens to engage politically, demanding action from their leaders on climate-related issues
In his remarks; Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Environment, Terseer Ugbor, advised Nigerians to take responsibilities and learn to adapt to all forms of climate change.
The lawmaker commended the organizers, saying the event is to set the course for engagement at COP 29 by also creating awareness and sensitization on climate change.
He said the National Assembly would address coastal challenges, issues of climate change and farmers/herders conflicts through the speedy passage of bills.
Executive Director for Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation, GIFSEP, Michael David, noted that climate change reporting for journalists in Africa is essential for educating the public, driving policy change, empowering communities, and fostering resilience.
He noted that the Climate injustice in Nigeria and Africa provides a platform for the continent’s unique climate challenges to be heard and addressed, paving the way for a more informed and proactive society.
“Today, we will be recognizing some of you journalist, to some, we gave a small grant to further tell our story and to encourage others here and those who are not here to increase your climate change reportage.”
“I welcome all the schools participating in the Art for Climate competition. This is the 4th Edition, In 2019 we organized the first FCT schools Environmental Festival after establishing ECO Clubs in over 7 schools. I thank the Patrons of these clubs.” He said .
Also speaking, Country Director OXFAM, John Makina said the event was to sensitize the public on climate issues as Nigeria move to COP 29, adding that the Nigerian government needs to do more in addressing climate change inequality
“Here we are on the Africa corridor we want bring together mobilized our boys with different messages from every corner of the countries so that we can present this to our representative, those that are going for COP 29 in Baku-Azerbaijan.”
“We are doing something but not to the level as you heard the for example the latest report OXFAM published they were actually tagged to some of the billionaires in Nigeria In terms of carbon emissions we are talking about climate change inequality so the climate change inequality looks at who is basically contributing to the emission more than others, some of these billionaires have big vehicles private jets etc, the government needs to do more.” He explained
He also called on the world leaders to fulfill their 2009 global commitments to support the Africa continent with funds in addressing climate challenges.
“So that we can inform the globe particularly the Western world because these are the countries that are emitting so much on carbon challenges we are talking about here, yes we are affected here but much of the things in terms of level of things the level of how we are impacted much of the challenges are actually coming from the other side, so we want to communicate to them and the whole commitment they made for example in 2009, to support Africa countries with funds, those funds were coming to us in a form of a loan that is not what we want, we want the funds to come to us as a form of a grants so that we can work on things that affect us.” He said.
