The Canadian government has applauded the efforts of the Nigerian Government, through the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, NCF to combat climate change.
Dr Teshome Nkrumah, the Deputy High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria made the announcement at the 40th-anniversary celebration of the NCF in Lagos.
Nkrumah said that the NCF’s adoption of nature-based climate change solutions such as tree planting and wetlands preservation is in line with solving modern environmental calamities such as biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, and coastline erosion.
While commending the foundation for pursuing its Green Recovery Nigeria project of replacing 25 per cent of Nigeria’s loss forest cover, Nkrumah said that a similar effort was being executed in Canada where the government has pledged to plant 2 billion trees within the next 10 years.
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Given the severity of the global climate disaster, he said, Nigeria’s government must treat the environment seriously.
He noted that although rich countries contributed significantly to climate change via years of industrial emissions because the tragedy knows no boundaries, it was imperative that all people and nations tackle the matter seriously.
In order to win the battle against climate change, Nkrumah advised the nation to step up conservation measures in accordance with the experts’ proposal to keep global warming to a safe level of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
On his part, Chairman of the National Executive Council of NCF, Chief Ede Dafinone called on the Lagos State government to intervene to avert the possible wiping off of parts of Lekki-Epe by ocean surge as revealed by a recent study by the foundation.
The DG of NCF, Dr Joseph Onoja also promised that in the next 10 years, the foundation will work aggressively to achieve its mandate in 4 pillars namely saving species, climate Change, Green Recovery Nigeria and Partnerships.
Story was adapted from Radio Nigeria.
