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| President Buhari participates at High Level Opening Segment of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) on 3rd Mar 2022 |
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the coming of the United Nations Environmental Programme (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 organisationโs efforts a success story.
In a congratulatory message to the Special Session to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nationsโ body on Thursday in Nairobi, Kenya, President Buhari said:
โAs 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.
โNotably, desertification and drought are threatening lives and livelihoods which further underscores the need to boost biodiversity in ecosystem restoration.
โWe thank UNEP for its role in reducing biodiversity loss and for being a major player in the global movement to slow deforestation and accelerate aforestation.
โWe recognize that restoring key ecosystems is crucial to help combat climate change and achieve sustainable development.
โTherefore, 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.โ
The Nigerian leader used the occasion to reiterate Nigeriaโs commitment towards addressing the devastating effects of climate change.
โDuring last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, Parties worked towards spurring action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also pledging to take steps to adapting to climate impacts.
โNations are constantly facing the threats of disrupted weather patterns, low food production and rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding among other challenges.
โIn that regard, Nigeria pledged to work with other countries in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and in doing so has increased her conditional contribution to reduce greenhouse gas from 45% to 47%.
โAdditionally, I outlined Nigeriaโs efforts and commitments towards transitioning to Net Zero ambition which involved both environment and development-related plans.
โThe plans contained a number of nature-based solutions, which included expansion of protected areas by creating ten additional National Parks, two Marine Protected Areas cutting across the various ecological zones of the country, and sustainable management of critical wetlands ecosystems across the country,โ the President said.
He praised the efforts of the Ministers of the Environment who had worked tirelessly prior to the Special Session for their commitment to the cause of the environment.
โI would like to thank the Ministers of Environment and their team for their commitment and active participation during the resumed Fifth Session of the United Nations General Assembly which preceded the commemorative event.
โSimilarly, I heartily congratulate the leadership of UNEP as we commemorate and celebrate your successes and achievements in the last 50 years.
โI take this opportunity to urge redoubled collective efforts to improve and sustain climate action, nature action, chemical and pollution action, air, bio-safety, disasters and conflicts, green economy, gender, oceans and seas, resource efficiency, water, and youth education in order to save our planet and achieve the 2030 agenda on sustainable development.โ
