The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Sidi Mohamed Tunis, has called for improved action to tackle climate change impact.
Tunis who made the call in Bali, Indonesia, at the ongoing 144th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, also called on members of parliaments across the world to come together to mobilise the necessary actions to combat the menace of climate.
Speaking at the Assembly with the theme ‘Getting to Zero: Mobilizing Parliaments to Act on Climate Change’, Tunis noted that the world is currently experiencing rapidly rising temperatures in the summer, the harshness of the winters and the droughts shrivelling up vegetation.
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According to him, climate change is an unavoidable change that is devastating the planet and a threat to the existence of life on earth.
He noted that ‘the call for action was resonant all over the world and to some degree, successes were recorded in slowing down the degradation of our planet. However, it is now time to mobilise communities, nations and regions.’
“Members of parliament must also place more emphasis on the environment through the various interventions they carry out in their countries and constituencies,” Tunis said.
Continuing, he said that beyond focusing on areas like agriculture, education, health, and other infrastructural development issues, there should be mainstreaming of climate change in all the national budgets.
‘Each sector of the economy should incorporate this phenomenon in its budget planning process,” Tunis said. “Furthermore, there should be national policies on climate change and members of parliament should be provided with adequate knowledge on adaptation and mitigation measures”.
Tunis further stated that the Standing Committees at the ECOWAS Parliament, including the Committee on Agriculture, Environment and Natural must work closely on all policy and programme implementation issues on the Environment and Climate Change.
Story was adapted from The Sun.
