The Nation Newspaper

Tag: climate change

  • Nigeria may lose N69trillion to climate change, says Minister

    Nigeria may lose N69trillion to climate change, says Minister

    Nigeria is at risk of losing N69 trillion to climate change, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heinken Lokpobiri, has stated.

    He spoke at the 2016 World Food Day celebration at the weekend in Abuja.

    Lokpobiri stated Nigeria may also lose up to 30 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2050 to climate change impacts.

    According to him, 70 per cent of the nation largely depends on agriculture.

    The minister said the federal government through the ministry had to establish the Department of Agriculture, Land and Climate Change to reverse the trend.

    According to him: “Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and therefore the most vulnerable to climate change with about 70% of her over 180 million people dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.”

    The Minister noted that policy integration was critical towards building climate resilience.

    He added that the ministry established an advisory committee on Agriculture Resilience to develop the National Agricultural Resilience Framework aimed at enhancing productivity and boost food security while protecting the environment.

    Lokpobiri said as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, the federal government is committed to reducing global warming below 2 degrees.

    Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Louis Setshwaelo, said the organisation has been committed to supporting the government on issues relating to agricultural development and climate change.

    Setshwaelo, who was represented by her deputy Dr. Raba Mani, said the symposium would contribute to the nation’s position in the international climate change conference scheduled to hold in Marrakesh, Morocco.

  • Nigeria, 59 others ratify Paris Agreement on climate change

    Nigeria, 59 others ratify Paris Agreement on climate change

    Sixty countries which account for 47.6 per cent global emissions have ratified the Paris Agreement, ahead of the timeline to reach the threshold on emissions.

    At a high-level ceremony, which  brought together countries to ratify the agreement, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and US Secretary of State John Kerry, last Tuesday, expressed optimism that the Paris Agreement would come into force this year.

    The Climate Action Network (CAN), a Beirut, Lebanon-based netwok of over 1100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in more than 120 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically-sustainable levels,   welcomed the progress on the ratification, and called upon other countries to ratify the agreement soon to reach the threshold on emissions and allow the historic deal to preserve the planet for future generations come into force.

    CAN International Director Mr. Wael Hmaidan said the Paris Agreement was only a beginning to building international consensus to fight climate change. He said the fight required every country, city, business and citizen to do all they can, as quickly as they can, to scale-down the pace of, and ultimately halt, climate change.

    “The prospect of this agreement coming into force in just a year, makes it a clear signal that there is absolutely no time to waste, meaning that its implementation must begin in earnest. The announcement marks a major tipping point in our planet’s history. Countries have come together at an unprecedented and historic rate to continue the progress the world made in Paris last year, and we applaud the collective global leadership that has driven us to this moment.

    “With the Paris Agreement’s imminent entry into force on the horizon, we wholeheartedly look forward to doing our part to continue the work toward a thriving clean energy economy, a stable climate, and a healthy planet,” said Sierra Club’s Executive Director, Michael Brune.

    But ratification is not enough, some stakeholders argued, insisting that governments, in particular, from the most powerful countries, needed to cut emissions quickly in light of the 1.5 degrees C limit.

    “More resources are needed to help the most vulnerable women, men, girls and boys build their resilience to climate impacts and disasters, and protect those displaced from climate loss and damage, an increasing harm recognised at this week’s UN Refugee summit,” said Sven Harmeling CARE International

    “World leaders have kick-started efforts in the ever-increasing battle against climate change, but we are still further than we had hoped we would be today.  Early entry into force of the Agreement less than a year since Paris would have been an important signal and step forward to protect the lives of millions of people around the world.

    “European countries’ failure to ratify today (Tuesday) is a dent in the climate leadership it has prided itself on previously.  The EU must now swiftly agree to ratification. And in order to reclaim its role as a true climate leader it must take early action, before 2020, to ensure that keeping the world below 1.5C degree warming is not an elusive dream,” said Adriano Campolina, ActionAid Chief Executive

    The Director of Strategy and Policy, Union of Concerned Scientists, Alden Meyer, said it is heart warming that the announcement that the Paris Agreement will take effect this year is good news for the planet, and also underscores the growing momentum for climate action.   But much work remains ahead on both implementing and raising the ambition of countries’ emissions reduction commitments, if the Paris goal of net zero global warming emissions by mid-century and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, has to be sacrosanct.

    The Team Leader, International Climate Policy, Germanwatch, Lutz Weischer, saw the ratification of the Paris Agreement by 60 countries as a “very clear signal that the world was serious about climate action”.

    “What worries us is that Europe and Germany are now at risk of being left behind in the transition to a decarbonized world economy, after years of investment in climate solutions. We call on Germany and the EU to ratify the Paris Agreement and deposit their instruments with the UN in the next few weeks. To regain ground in the decarbonisation race, Chancellor Merkel also needs to significantly improve the draft 2050 climate plan her government is currently debating – right now, Germany is not on track to meet its Paris commitments,” Weischer said.

    He said the pace at which countries are joining the Paris agreement brings it significantly closer to entering into force, yet there remains a massive gap between what the agreement calls for and what world governments are actually doing to meet these targets.

    The Executive Director, 350.org, May Boeve, said the last 16 months have been the hottest in history, with 2016 shaping up to be the hottest year on record. “Around the world, there is a powerful and growing fossil fuel resistance movement that is pushing our institutions and governments to divest and break free from fossil fuels to prioritise people and planet,” he said, adding that the ratification announcements injected more momentum into the Paris Agreement and were important steps towards getting real action to start.

  • Climate Change lessons

    Last year November-December 2015, nearly 200 countries converged in Paris France to ratify the Climate Change deal which the Conference of Parties, COP, had negotiated in April of that same year. That convergence was not new nor was it anything novel. Every year, the COP meets, at the instance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate, UNFCCC, to discuss issues relating to the mitigation of climate change.

    Most of the time when these discussions take place, the issues are not confined to climate change. There are interconnected and bye-issues as well like flooding, desert encroachment and deforestation. I have read the Paris Agreement. Relevant parts include Articles 2 subsections (a) and (b), together with Article 8 subsection 1. Excerpts from Article 2 say that signatories must do all within their powers to recognise the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change.

    But Nigeria is seemingly uninterested in these meetings. Whether or not Nigeria attended the Paris Climate Change Summit I cannot vouchsafe. But I can tell that Nigeria did not sign the Paris Treaty. The argument from developing countries like Nigeria is that the developed world is responsible for the climate change problem. Via the industrial revolution, countries from the North emitted carbon injurious to ice glaciers. The implication of this appears unclear to everyone:  coastal cities and towns all over the world like Ughelli, Lokoja, Warri, Uzere, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Yenogoa, Eket, Oron, Uyo and Sapele are at greatest risk and usually hit every year from flooding. We all saw what happened in 2012, where floods sacked entire towns. Irregular occurrences like this also build up heat waves that diminish the ozone layer, produce conditions which result in desert encroachment.

    This is why nations like South Africa have stopped playing the blame game with countries of the North. In another League with Nations like China, Brazil, India and Russia, South Africa is forming formidable alliances to diplomatically negotiate reduction of carbon emissions with the greatest polluters – China and the United States.  But it seems that Nigeria is not ready to join this league. Even though she is not the only country which did not sign the Paris Climate change Treaty, her temperament is easy to decipher thus: first, we still flare our gas. We have been doing so since the 1950s, and therefore contributing to messing up of the ozone as much as the countries of the North. Data out there say that the reason we still flare our gas is that the technology is not there, and rather than develop it, we collect a paltry sum from the multinationals that are here prospecting crude.

    Second, we are not careful about our environment and the network in it. We are more interested in ‘development’. But development has to be sustainable, and what this means is that if there is a plan to build a school on a land where trees like mango, guava and palm trees already sit on, an environment impact assessment, EIA, must be carried out to ascertain what cost to the environment the building of a school on that land would bring.

    • Bob MajiriOgheneEtemiku

    Benin

  • U.S. envoy to press Nigeria, South Africa, others on climate change

    A United States (U.S) Special Envoy for Climate Change, Dr. Jonathan Pershing   will on Sept. 4 begin a five-day mission to Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa to hold talks on climate change.

    A statement from the U.S state Department yesterday, said the mission would serve as an important opportunity to discuss implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

    It said that the visit would advance climate and clean energy efforts with leaders across Africa ahead of 2016 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) annual climate conference, COP-22, in Marrakesh, Morocco, which would from Nov. 7 to Nov. 18.

    It said that the American Special Envoy would visit Dakar, Senegal, on Sept.4 for meetings with government officials and the civil society “to highlight our strong partnership”.

    According to the statement, it will address climate change and how it impacts coastal communities, food security, power production and inclusive economic growth.

    The statement also said that on Sept. 6, Pershing will travel to Abuja, Nigeria, for meetings with government officials and civil society to discuss climate finance and investment.

    In Nigeria, he would equally discuss youth engagement on climate change, and the importance of joining and implementing the Paris Agreement.

    It noted that the envoy would travel to Johannesburg and Pretoria on Sept. 8 for meetings with South African government officials, the private sector and the civil society.

    In South Africa, the statement said, he would discuss climate negotiations, leadership on renewable energy and priorities going into COP-22 in Marrakesh.

    The U.S and China on Saturday in Hangzhou, China, deposited their official instruments to formally join the Paris Agreement, which demonstrated their continued and shared commitment to climate leadership.

    The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon recently invited leaders from all countries to attend a special event on Sept. 21 at the UN headquarters to deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

  • UNIC Lagos, movie icons partner for climate change

    UNIC Lagos, movie icons partner for climate change

    With climatic change across the globe, the  movie industry has added its voice to the global environmental campaigns.

    Notable movie icons under the aegis of The Golden Movie Ambassadors of Nigeria (TGMAN) joined the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Lagos in its climate change campaign at Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    The council came alive when  the environmental advocates moved round, creating awareness on the impact of man-made activities against the environment. The awareness campaign, which was led by TGMAN President, Saidi Balogun, and the National Information Officer of UNIC Lagos, Mr Oluseyi Soremekun, moved from LASU-Isheri Road through Idimu to Egbeda area.

    The train, attracted motorists and pedestrians, actors, actresses, producers and directors, engaged members of the public,who were obviously excited to see and engage their movie icons, in Yoruba, pidgin-English and occasionally, Hausa language.

    The campaign, which calls attention to impacts of environmental degradation, was anchored on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 states: “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts’, informed and educated members of the public about climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning”.

    With mounted sound system on a small truck, the procession stopped intermittently at major bus-stops to address the public. As the campaign procession meandered through the streets, information and education materials were shared to the public.

    At the Egbeda terminus of the SDGs awareness campaign train, Soremekun said climate change remained a threat to all. He observed that the economy and people’s livelihoods were suffering due to unpredictable weather as lakes were drying up and dry land were getting drier while flooded plains were increasing. This, according to him, had serious health implications. He, therefore, urged the public be vigilant as flash floods have been predicted in some states.

    Balogun urged the public to take tree planting as a way of life. He added that tree planting was the best gift anyone could give to himself. “Trees break the devastating effect of storms; reduce erosion and flood; and provide cleaner and healthier air for the well-being of the people,” he said.

    According to Soremekun, the campaign was an outcome of a deal between TGMAN and UNICLagos a few months ago, noting: ”it is the first in the series of collaborative activities to leverage on creative arts and the movie industry for the promotion of sustainable development in Nigeria.”

     

  • UN, movie stars take climate change message to the grassroots

    UN, movie stars take climate change message to the grassroots

    Joy rents the air as emotion runs high on Monday in the densely populated Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State when movie stars under the aegis of The Golden Movie Ambassadors of Nigeria (TGMAN) in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Lagos, embarked on a public awareness campaign on climate change.

    The campaign, led by the President of TGMAN, veteran actor, Ambassador Saidi Balogun, and the National Information Officer of UNIC Lagos, Oluseyi Soremekun, attracted the attention of motorists and pedestrians who were obviously excited to see and engage with their movie idols.

    Anchored on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: ‘Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts’, it informed and educated members of the public about climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning. From LASU-Isheri Road through Idimu to Egbeda area, the movie stars including Actors, Actresses, Producers and Directors engaged members of the public in Yoruba, pidgin-English and occasionally in Hausa language.

    Speaking at the Egbeda terminus on the campaign trail, Soremekun said climate change remained a threat to all. He explained that the economy and people’s livelihoods were suffering due to unpredictable weather as the lakes were drying up and dry lands were getting drier while flooded plains were increasing. This, according to him, had serious health implications. He urged the public to be vigilant as flash floods have been predicted in some States of the Federation.

    Balogun, in his message, urged the public to take tree planting as a way of life. According to him tree planting is the best gift anyone could give to himself stressing that trees break the devastating effect of storms, reduce erosion and flood, and provide cleaner and healthier air for the well-being of the people.

    The SDGs awareness campaign was an outcome of a partnership meeting held between TGMAN and UNIC Lagos a few months ago and it is the first in the series of collaborative activities to leverage on creative arts and the movie industry for the promotion of sustainable development in Nigeria.

  • Stemming harbingers of climate change

    Al Gore, a former United States Vice-President, must be oscillating between glee and gloom. Glee that his prognostications about climate change have largely been vindicated, and gloom that his prognostications about climate change have largely been vindicated. When his book and documentary entitled, An Inconvenient Truth, came out in 2006, he was viewed as everything from a well-meaning but false alarmist to a destabilising quack propagating a conspiracy theory. He was one of the first public figures with international face-recognition to sound the warning on the impending doom we’ve come to know as global warming. Few believed him at the onset, but now 10 years later, history has proved him to be, most unfortunately, more right than wrong.

    Both 2014 and 2015 were declared the hottest years on record. 2016 may well be hotter still, judging by the unusually high temperatures we’ve been experiencing particularly since February.  In Nigeria, the undue temperatures and changes in weather patterns are causing year-by-year shrinkage of fertile acreage in the northern parts of the country. This warmer-weather phenomenon and its attendant consequences are being felt in other parts of the world too. In December 2015, the former second largest lake in Bolivia, Lake Poopo, irreversibly evaporated. In April this year, thousands of tons of dead sardines washed up on the banks of the Queule River in Chile. In May, a wildfire started near Fort McMurray in Canada and spread across more than 505,000 hectares, forcing the mandatory evacuation of an entire town.

    According to NASA, the global temperature in April was the warmest ever recorded in any April since 1880. This across-borders rise in temperature is caused by both naturally-occurring and man-made factors.  El Nino, the periodic movement of large chunks of warm water across the Pacific Ocean, is the primary naturally-occurring cause of climate change. Greenhouse gases, such as fossil fuel-induced carbon dioxide, are the predominant man-made instigants of global warming. Climate change has an impact on the availability of water, the food supply chain, and of course, the environment. Our production of fossil fuels (like oil) and our overdependence on its derived products (like diesel, kerosene or petrol) are not helping.  The quantum of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is said to have reached its highest recorded level in 2015. Mankind is producing more carbon dioxide than the earth can naturally process.

    Most of us would list better roads and constant power supply as absolute necessities for Nigeria’s economic growth. However, our quest for development must be conducted sustainably. For example, while it’s splendid that there are plans to build a multi-lane, superhighway in Cross River State, it should only be done after taking time to properly assess the long term, environmental impact of cutting through a national park, felling countless trees and irreparably altering certain ecosystems. When viewed through a climate change prism, such a trade-off may prove to be ultimately retrogressive and costly in ways that may only become apparent 30 years from hence.

    Having constant power supply is a boon to commercial competitiveness.  The country’s current power generating capacity is said to have fallen below 2,500MW. There is a possibility that capacity for an additional 2,000MW will be restored by the end of 2016. The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing forecasts that our peak power demand in Nigeria is around 12,800MW and hopes to generate up to 40,000MW by 2020. However, there are those who believe that that goal is too modest because our needs could in actual fact be as high as 1,000MW per one million people. So, how do we balance this vital requirement for electricity with the pressing need to halt drastic climate change?  Right now, the power shortfall is made up principally by gas-turbined private power projects or the individual use of generators fuelled by diesel or petrol. Perhaps, it is time for us to be earnest about catching up with the rest of the world and shifting away from relying mainly on fossil fuel to generate our power. It is instructive that the construction of a 10MW wind farm in Katsina State has not been completed 10 years after inception. Meanwhile, the Gansu Wind Farm in China started in 2009 and seven years later it can generate more than 7,900MW. Their goal is to generate at least 20,000MW from this wind farm alone by the year 2020. We seriously need to up our game.

    Thankfully, there are indigenous social utility companies in Nigeria, which have figured out how to provide 24 hour electricity to rural communities at an affordable rate using solar energy. Incentives should be provided so that more entrepreneurs will be motivated to develop alternative energy solutions. Institutional investors with excess liquidity should consider ploughing their money into renewable energy projects (instead of building yet another block of unoccupied luxury apartments). Individuals with extra funds earning a pittance in savings accounts can also figure out how to invest in viable enterprises dedicated to providing clean energy. These are ways that we can replicate, for example, the community-owned wind farm system practised in the German region of North Frisia. The wind farms in North Frisia have the capacity to generate approximately 700MW, which is more electricity than the residents can use. Imagine that. Constant power supply without the noise or atmospheric pollution of generators.

    The sooner we can switch to using renewable energy like solar, wind or water, the better the chance we have for minimising the damaging effects of environmental anomalies within our borders. Though the chances of Nigeria becoming a zero-carbon economy are minuscule, those who insist that we can pursue development at a pace and in a manner that is “in harmony with nature”, are not necessarily tree-hugging lefties and should not be ignored.ý A healthy planet would undoubtedly be one of the greatest legacies that we can give to the next generation.

    At a personal level, we can do what little we can to slow down or even reverse global warming. We can reduce, reuse and recycle if at all possible.  Turning off lights and air conditioning when no one is in the room reduces emissions. Even just raising an air-conditioning system’s thermostat by two degrees in warmer climes (or two degrees lower in colder climes), creates less carbon dioxide. Using LED or CFL bulbs also helps. Opting for cars run by renewable energy or car pooling, or biking to your destination if you are able to, can make a difference. Planting trees or finding ways to incorporate existing trees into your building design is beneficial too because trees absorb carbon dioxide. This reminds me of a US-based NGO known as the Centre for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!). CREATE! provides training to interested groups in rural communities on how to start and maintain year-round, sustainable vegetable gardens and tree nurseries without the use of any fossil fuel. The trees double as living fences, and reverse the trend of deforestation. The foliage provides shade, and the produce provides nutrition, as well as a source of income.

    One wonders if Gore sees 2015 as the year the world got serious about tackling the apocalypse of climate change. That year saw the signing of the Paris Agreement and a shift in investment priorities away from fossil energy, in favour of renewable energy. The Agreement has so far been signed by at least 175 countries. It commits the participants to reducing emissions or halting emissions growth. Signatories have also pledged to take actions to keep the temperature from rising 2C above “preindustrial levels”. They are actually aiming to cap it at 1.5C which seems like a lost battle already considering that in 2015 the global temperature reached as high as 1.11C hotter than the selected benchmark. Climate scientists believe that if global temperatures rise above 3.5C, small island developing states such as Sao Tome and Principe or Cape Verde will almost certainly be sunk under rising tidal waves.

    The sweltering heat wave of the last few months, the southward creeping desert and the drying up of Lake Chad are harbingers of climate change in Nigeria. The last two effects are in turn compounding the problem of urban migration, which as we have seen, has engendered conflicts between hosts and settlers. It behoves us to make adaptive correction, and it will be interesting to know if Nigeria will reconsider its decision not to be a signatory to the Paris Agreement. Even if we don’t sign, hopefully, we have our own plans to cause our emissions to reduce rapidly, so that we are not negligent contributors to an avoidable calamity that could render parts of the world unfit for any life form to dwell.

     

    • Ms. Aboderin, an economist, is a member of the Institute of Directors.
  • World Bank to mobilise $25b to fight climate change

    World Bank to mobilise $25b to fight climate change

    The World Bank has promised to mobilise 25 billion dollars in private financing for clean energy by 2020 to fight climate change in developing countries.

     

    This is contained in a Climate Change Action Plan, released by the bank on Friday in Washington, with a promise to add 30 gigawatts of renewable energy to the world’s energy capacity.

     

    Jim Kim, World Bank Group President said the plan was designed to help countries meet their Paris COP21 pledges and manage increasing climate impacts.

     

    He disclosed that to complement the World Bank’s efforts, the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, promised to expand its climate investments from the current 2.2 billion dollars a year to a goal of 3.5 billion dollars a year.

     

    Kim said it would also lead on leveraging an additional 13 billion dollars a year in private sector financing by 2020.

     

    The president, said under the plan, the Bank would quadruple funding for climate-resilient transport and integrate climate into urban planning through the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities.

     

    He said it would also boost assistance for sustainable forest and fisheries management.

     

    Kim said this has become imperative because climate change threatened to drive 100 million more people into poverty in the next 15 years.

     

    “Following the Paris climate agreement, we must now take bold action to protect our planet for future generations.

     

    The president said the bank is moving urgently to help countries make major transitions to increase sources of renewable energy and decrease high-carbon energy sources.

     

    Kim said it would also include developing green transport systems, building sustainable and liveable cities for growing urban populations.

  • Nigeria to sign global pact on COP21 climate change

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday pledged Nigeria’s supports to the Paris agreement on Climate Change reached at the end of COP21 meeting held in France last December.

    According to him, Nigeria will join in the signing of the global pact in due course.

    He spoke at the Presidential Villa during a courtesy visit by the French Minister for the Environment, Power and Marine Affairs, who presided over the COP21 meeting in Paris, Ms. Segolene Royal.

    Osinbajo, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said that working together with the legislative arm of the Nigerian government, the country will play its part in signing the agreement and ensuring ratification.

    “COP21 outcome is important for everyone, it is the largest landmark agreement on climate change,” Osinbajo said

    Nigeria, he said, was pleased with the meeting and its outcome-the Paris Agreement.

    He also harped on the need for the rehabilitation of Lake Chad which is being threatened by climate change.

    Lake Chad, he said, is also important from the point of view of security and economic factors.

    The Vice President restated Nigeria’s concern about the lake and welcomed international support on its preservation and rehabilitation.

    He thanked the French minister for making a stop in Nigeria as she tours countries in the continent, expressing the hope that Nigeria and France would continue to expand diplomatic and economic relationships, especially as the federal government is now confronting a number of economic issues including diversification and development of infrastructure.

    The Vice President who was joined at the meeting by Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Ms. Amina Mohammed, commended the effort of Ms. Royal in her role as COP21 president and pledged Nigeria’s continued support.

    Speaking earlier, Ms. Royal told the Vice President that she is visiting Nigeria and a number of other African countries to ensure that the Paris Agreement is established through the signing and ratification process, and also beyond to encourage the signatories take concrete actions in line with the agreement after the signing.

    She noted the support of the international community on the preservation and rehabilitation of Lake Chad and announced that the Paris Agreement would be signed April 22 at the United Nations.

  • C’River queen gets nod for ‘Climate Change’

    C’River queen gets nod for ‘Climate Change’

    Cross River Most Beautiful Girl (CRMBG), Queenette Onyeduma Awukam, is beginning to get some international recognition for partnering the Cross River State government in its climate change campaign tagged Let’s Go Green.

    Now called climate change activist, owing to her role in the campaign against the degrading global change in climatic conditions, the queen was on Saturday at 6pm(GMT+1) engaged in an interview by @SDGsSaturday, a twitter handle by Nigeria’s Ministry of Environment on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which lasted for close to one hour.

    International participants in the public Twitter interview were, among others, organisations and individuals known internationally to be responsible for promoting SDGs, including the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, who participated with Twitter handle @CFigueres; Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed participating with @AminaJMohammed; while UN Climate Action participated with @UNFCCC.

    The International media had monitored the parley between SDGsSaturday and Miss Awukam with Twitter account @Miz_Ritzy, including CrossRiverEyes as @CrossRiverEyes; Reuters Top News as @Reuters; and Huffpost Impact as @HuffpostImpact.

    No doubt, Miss Awukam became an attraction for this rare international recognition following the exotic vegetation photographs she lent herself to last  December as part of the activities of the Carnival Calabar and Festival, led by the State governor, Prof. Ben Ayade.

    During the Twitter interview, the reigning CRMBG queen told SDGsSaturday that she gets inspiration to embark on her current campaigns from the governor of Cross River, where she hails. She promised not to relent on the ‘Let’s Go Green’ campaign until climate equalization funds that will help her state deliver on policies and plans capable of mitigating green house gas emissions become feasible.

    Cross River Most Beautiful Girl (CRMBG), Queenette Onyeduma Awukam, is beginning to get some international recognition for partnering the Cross River State government in its climate change campaign tagged Let’s Go Green.

    Now called climate change activist, owing to her role in the campaign against the degrading global change in climatic conditions, the queen was on Saturday at 6pm(GMT+1) engaged in an interview by @SDGsSaturday, a twitter handle by Nigeria’s Ministry of Environment on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which lasted for close to one hour.

    International participants in the public Twitter interview were, among others, organisations and individuals known internationally to be responsible for promoting SDGs, including the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, who participated with Twitter handle @CFigueres; Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed participating with @AminaJMohammed; while UN Climate Action participated with @UNFCCC.

    The International media had monitored the parley between SDGsSaturday and Miss Awukam with Twitter account @Miz_Ritzy, including CrossRiverEyes as @CrossRiverEyes; Reuters Top News as @Reuters; and Huffpost Impact as @HuffpostImpact.

    No doubt, Miss Awukam became an attraction for this rare international recognition following the exotic vegetation photographs she lent herself to last  December as part of the activities of the Carnival Calabar and Festival, led by the State governor, Prof. Ben Ayade.

    During the Twitter interview, the reigning CRMBG queen told SDGsSaturday that she gets inspiration to embark on her current campaigns from the governor of Cross River, where she hails. She promised not to relent on the ‘Let’s Go Green’ campaign until climate equalization funds that will help her state deliver on policies and plans capable of mitigating green house gas emissions become feasible.