Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari has called for broader action to overcome climate change, biodiversity, rising pollution levels which remain the three major crises threatening the planet.
Buhari made the call on Thursday in a congratulatory message to the Special Session to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, titled, ‘“President Buhari lauds United Nations Environmental Programme at 50, calls for broader actions to overcome environmental challenges.”
According to the president, the coming of the UNEP 50 years ago, created the awareness of the need to make climate and environmental action a priority for the entire world while urging concerted action to make the organisation’s efforts a success story.
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Buhari noted that desertification and drought are threatening lives and livelihoods, which further underscores the need to boost biodiversity in ecosystem restoration.
He thanked UNEP for its role in the reductionof biodiversity loss and for being a major player in the global movement to slow deforestation and accelerate afforestation.
“We recognise that restoring critical ecosystems is crucial to help combat climate change and achieve sustainable development,” Buhari said. “Therefore, by collaborating with partners such as UNEP, we believe that much more successes would be recorded as we journey in our collective struggle against climate change.”
The President also restated Nigeria’s commitment towards addressing the devastating impacts of climate change, noting that during the COP26 in Glasgow, parties worked towards spurring action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also pledging to take steps to adapt to climate impacts.
“As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of UNEP’s existence, we laud the efforts of UNEP and encourage broader action to overcome climate change, biodiversity, rising levels of pollution and waste being three major crises threatening our planet,” he said.
Story was adapted from Punch.
