Yemisi Izuora
An environmentalist, Mr Atayi Babs has appealed to The Federal Government to take serious the elimination of gas flaring in the country’s Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs).
He made the appeal in Abuja recently saying that time has come for government to take proactive measures to curb gas flaring and that Nigeria should beat the deadline for submission of the INDCs in October to outline its national targets on how to address the challenge of climate change.
The INDCs, under UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), require countries across the globe to be committed to creating a new international climate agreement.
The agreement is expected to be reached at the conclusion of the Paris Climate Summit coming up in December 2015.
Countries have agreed to publicly outline what actions they intend to take to address climate change under a global agreement before the Paris Summit by March 2015, at previous climate negotiations.
The expert said that Nigeria had been focusing on adaptation programmes, noting that the country should come up with mitigation compliance in its INDCs.
“The Ministry of Environment should make it a core issue beyond that, mitigation strategy needs to come on board.
“We know the sources of our emission because we are still contributing to the warming of the planet and one major area we are doing so is in oil and gas.
“Nigeria is among the leading countries when it comes to gas flaring and we must take proactive measures to curb it. “ he said.
He said even though the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) encompasses some plans to curtail gas flaring in the country, it will not be sufficient to address gas flaring.
The country he said should look beyond the bill and also come with a plan to address oil spillage which, he said had wrecked many communities in the Niger Delta.
Babs, who is also the National Network Coordinator for Climate Change Sustainable Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation (CSDevNet), urged the media to give adequate coverage to environmental issues.