Nigeria's Foremost Environment & SDGs Blog

National Pre-COP 25 Workshop in Nigeria (PHOTO: CSDevNet) As part of the build-up to the COP25, the Nigerian Civil Society Framework on Paris Agreement and SDGs (NCSFPAS) coordinated by Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet), the National platform for Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), affiliate sector-based networks, thematic groups, members and partners are organizing a Pre-COP25 meeting and Climate Week of Action. The upcoming 25th Conference of Parties (COP25) is scheduled to hold between 3rd and 13th December 2019 in Madrid, Spain. Participants are expected from 196 countries including the European Union and conversations will be centred on achieving tougher, more concrete and realistic plans to enhance country-specific Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020, with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050. Major expectations from the meeting and the Climat...

CSDevNet Nigeria Organizes Pre-COP25 and Climate Week of Action (PHOTO: CSDevNet) As part of the build-up to the COP25, the Nigerian Civil Society Framework on Paris Agreement and SDGs (NCSFPAS) coordinated by Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet), the National platform for Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), affiliate sector-based networks, thematic groups, members and partners are organizing a Pre-COP25 meeting and Climate Week of Action. The upcoming 25th Conference of Parties (COP 25) is scheduled to hold between 3rd and 13th December 2019 in Madrid, Spain. Participants are expected from 196 countries including the European Union and conversations will be centred on achieving tougher, more concrete and realistic plans to enhance country-specific Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020, with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050. African countries s...

Group photo of participants with Mr Fujita Two Nigerians – Adiza Ujo and Adesuwa Obasuyi – have been selected for the Knowledge Co-Creation program (KCCP) of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is implemented as part of the Official Development Assistance Program of the Government of Japan.  The training program is titled Enhancement of Solid Waste Management Capacity (Advance, Planning and Policy) and will hold from October 21 to November 16, 2019. The program aims at strengthening human and institutional capacity for sustainable solid waste management (SWM), especially in the field of raising social awareness, environment education, and promotion of 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) and is mainly designed for local government and/or regional government who are in charge of solid waste management, central government and governmental agencies which support local and regional government for improvement of solid waste management, and other organization...

E-waste is defined as electrical and electronic devices ranging from household devices such as air conditioners, cell phones, computers, printers, refrigerators, radios, televisions, to industrial appliances, which have been discarded by their users.  Annually, 20 – 50 million tonnes of e-waste is generated globally and the International Telecommunications Union estimates that 52 million metric tonnes will be generated by 2021 with just 20% recycled. Nigeria currently generates over 290,000 tonnes of e-waste, a 170% increase from 2009.  As global population increases, the demand for electrical and electronic equipment in the industrial, commercial and household sectors also increases, consequently leading to exponential growth in generated e-waste. At the end-of-life phase and with less than 20% recycling rates globally, these equipment end up being burned, illegally traded, dumped, landfilled or treated in a sub-standard way and due to the toxic and hazardous ch...

Group picture of the participants at the Jabi Motor Park (Photo: Mr Bona) September 21st each year is a day set aside for worldwide action on the solid waste problem and it is tagged World Cleanup Day.   The day’s activities include clean-ups, awareness creation and sensitization among people in rural and urban areas in various parts of the world.  Statistics gotten from Let’s Do It World’s social media handle revealed that over 169 countries participated in this year’s World Cleanup Day and over 20,000,000 participants actively took part in the cleanup. Nigeria was not left out, as major cities such as Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kaduna, and over 20 others joined in one of the largest civic actions in the world.  Some of the major organizations that took part in this year’s clean-up exercise in Abuja, Nigeria, were Pick That Trash, Let’s Do It Nigeria Campaign, Junior Chamber International (JCI), EcoBarter, SustyVibes, Sustainable African Cit...

Group Photograph of Participants at Oxfam's 2019 Global Strategy Forum (Photo: Oxfam) Oxfam International convened its Global Strategy Forum from 16th - 18th September, 2019, at Nairobi, Kenya. The forum brought together approximately 120 people which included activists, experts and Oxfam staff to contribute expertise and experience and have debates that will inform the organization’s next global strategy and to shape its future.  Using a thinking environment approach, the objectives of the forum were: to reflect on a number of transformative scenarios and other strategic inputs developed across Oxfam’s global network; debate the potential implications for Oxfam’s future ability to have transformational impact; and propose strategic options, priorities and pathways for Oxfam as a framework for its next 10-year global strategy.  The organizers constantly stated that they were excited to see every one of us and were particularly eager to hear what the exter...

Participants in front of Fadama Hall, Ondo State Ministry of Natural Resources According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO (2018), deforestation continues at an alarming rate, an estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest, roughly the size of Panama is lost each year globally. The annual rate of deforestation in Nigeria is 3.5%, approximately 350,000 - 400,000 hectares per year. Deforestation is Nigeria is going on at an alarming rate and is largely unchecked.  Some factors that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation are unresolved land tenure issues, inefficient forest law enforcement largely due to corruption, high level of poverty and little or no inclusion of forest dependent communities and local communities, and weak governance. Upon enquiries, I was also told that a huge part of the problem is that state governments give targets to and put a lot of pressure on the Forestry Departments in their respective ...

Representatives of Nigeria Youth at the Inclusion Dialogue   August 12th is globally recognised as the World International Youth Day.  To help advance youth inclusion to the core of the implementation of the NDCs, Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet), in collaboration with the National Civil Society Framework on Paris Agreement and the SDGs (NCFPAS) and the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) convened a National Youth Discussion on Nigeria Youth Inclusion and the Implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).  I was one of the young people who attended the event in my capacity as a part of the CSDevNet team.  The discussion sought to collate ideas, knowledge and draft a work plan that will inform, encourage, and influence leaders to raise the ambition of their commitments to the NDCs.  The discussion took place at CSDevNet’s Secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria, from August 12 to 14 2019.  Di...

Sabi'u, a Nigerian waste picker The informal waste workers are people who make a living from waste but are not formally tasked with providing the service by the authorities. Common names for the category of waste workers in this article are baban-bola, onye mkpo ahihia, kole kole, asa-idoti, scavengers, and waste pickers. The data I will be referring to in this article is from a survey of six dumpsites (illegal and government-approved) in Abuja, Nigeria. The average age for a male informal waste worker who makes a living out of Abuja’s dumpsites and bins is 23 years, they are mostly migrants from other states in the Northern part of Nigeria such as Nassarawa, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, and 72% migrated to Abuja in search of greener pastures within the last five years. Some of the occupations they were engaged in prior to relocation are farming, vehicle repair, equipment operation, and so on; some of them also mentioned that they were jobless before re...