Earth Day 2021: Minister Urges Use Of Natural Resources To Restore Environment

The Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, says there is a need for use of natural resources to preserve and restore environmental sustainability and ecosystem.

Ikeazor said this as the ministry commemorated the 2021 World Earth Day with the theme: “Restore Our Earth” on Thursday in Abuja.

She said the use of natural resources would not only restore and preserve the environment but mitigate climate change.

World Earth Day is celebrated every April 22 and the 2021 commemoration marks 50 years of the modern environmental movement.

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The movement which started in 1970 gave a voice to an emerging public consciousness about the state of the planet.

Ikeazor said that the day stimulated worldwide awareness of climate change and the environment.

She said the awareness enhanced stronger government commitment and massive public action to address all environmental issues.

According to her, climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and life support systems that make the world habitable.

“The ministry will continue to focus on issues that enhance sustainable environment.

“We will focus on inspiring, sensitizing, and enlightening Nigerians to take action to mitigate climate change in line with the theme.

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“This is the time to reevaluate our interaction with nature and adopt the one world one health approach,” she said.

The minister said the Federal Government had scaled up its commitment to taking action to mitigate, adapt and promote the capacity for resilience to the impacts of climate change in the country.

She said the commitment was through the ratification of the Paris Agreement by President Muhammadu Buhari.

She added that the effort was to strengthen the existing institutional framework to ensure effective coordination of climate change activities and other actions.

Ikeazor further stated that the government, in fulfilment of the Paris agreement, had developed a draft Sectoral Action Plan (SAP) for the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

“We are currently reviewing the National Policy on Climate Change for more effectiveness with readiness for Nigeria’s National Adaptation Plan Framework for Climate Change (NAPs – Framework).

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“Also, there is a sustained effort to sensitize Nigerians to adopt clean technologies to meet emission reduction target.

“We have as well developed the National Forest Reference Emission Factor Level (FREL) and submitted it to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to place priority on environmental sustainability to enable us to build a healthier, more sustainable future,” she said.