By Mayen Etim, Kaduna
The Head of Leadership, Governance, and Advocacy at CALPED, Mr. Yusuf Ishaku Goje, has stated that the implementation of the Kaduna State Policy on Climate Change can only succeed if the state adopts a bottom-top approach to climate change issues.
Goje, a climate change activist, made this assertion during the Green Hangout 3.0 conference, which was organized by Green Climate Africa in collaboration with the office of the Special Assistant on Climate Change to the Kaduna State Governor. The conference had the theme “Bridging Policy and Action: Aligning COP29 Outcomes with Local Realities.”
As a keynote speaker at the conference, which was held in Kaduna on Wednesday, Goje spoke with DailyNewsPrecise and expressed his opinion that one of the major strategies for effective implementation of the policy is to adopt the bottom-top approach. This approach involves the state government developing a stakeholders and community framework that ensures climate change is not treated as an elitist agenda, but as something that people at the grassroots can relate to.
How do we ensure that climate change is mainstreamed in all local government plans and budgets?
He emphasized that having a framework will support partners in raising awareness about the negative impact of climate change and what needs to be done to mitigate and adapt to it. This will enable them to play a central role in communicating effectively with the people directly affected by climate change.
Goje said, “If you notice, the advocacy around climate financing and climate change action is largely at the federal and state levels. How do we ensure that climate change is mainstreamed in all local government plans and budgets?”
He also stated that the media has a critical role to play in this regard. Goje asked if there is a framework that supports the media with the capacity and funding to display to the people not just the negative impact of climate change, but also how people’s behavior is accelerating its negative impact.
Goje added that if this is spelled out, it makes it very easy, especially now that local governments have their autonomy, which means funding will be more available for them. The relevant department in the local government should be well-funded with clear-cut plans on how they can work with other non-state actors like civil societies and the media to reach out to people who may not have access to elitist channels of communication.
The impact of climate change is most felt, and the people are both poor and vulnerable to the extent that they cannot effectively respond when faced with the negative impact of climate change
The Head of Leadership further stated that other social structures like traditional and religious institutions, as well as various socio-economic groups, could also be explored. He emphasized that all these groups need to be brought on board, hence the need to develop a robust framework from the bottom up.
According to him, this framework should not be developed by consultants, ministry officials, or government officials alone. Rather, the people should be allowed to express their understanding of climate change and what they think should be the mitigation and adaptation measures that can be brought in.
Goje also said that the people should recognize that they, in their own ways, contribute to climate change and how they can stop such behaviors. This, he believes, is basically what can be done.
He noted that while the government coordinates, the implementation is actually at the grassroots because that is where the impact of climate change is most felt, and the people are both poor and vulnerable to the extent that they cannot effectively respond when faced with the negative impact of climate change.
The government cannot do this alone and must ensure that it creates an enabling environment for development partners to pull in their funds and also support civil societies
Goje said the government cannot do this alone and must ensure that it creates an enabling environment for development partners to pull in their funds and also support civil societies and the media to help step down some of these issues to the grassroots. This will ensure that local actions can be integrated at the community level to align with the state policy.
Also speaking, the Special Assistant on Climate Change to the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Yusuf Amoke, expanded the discussion. He said COP29 was interesting in the sense that a deal was struck on loss and damage that affects Nigeria directly as a party.
The global south sought $1.3 trillion but was able to get $300 billion as a deal, which has been operationalized
According to him, the global south sought $1.3 trillion but was able to get $300 billion as a deal, which has been operationalized. He explained that the $300 billion would be spent from now till 2035 and is now left for Nigeria as a party to put up all the frameworks and necessary operations to ensure that the country is ready and has all the infrastructure needed to tap into these resources.
Amoke said at the subnational level, there is a need to create projects for which Kaduna has done its best by having a Climate Change Policy, which is also embedded in climate change action. He added that Kaduna now expects the federal government to put all the infrastructure in place, explaining that the COP29 is a conference of parties who draw their strength from the subnationals because all climate actions are local actions.
The SA further explained that the subnationals are aligning to that and are tasked to create projects. These projects can come from the private sector, civil society organizations, and all within the state, including the state government.
He said the state government has done quite a lot, stressing that “Kaduna State is the only state in the country whose street lights are 100 percent renewable energy, and this is a project already achieved that can help on drawing from such resources.”
On the loss and damage aspect of the deal struck by the global south, Hon Amoke explained that this fund is dedicated to communities or places devastated by climate crises such as floods, fire outbreaks as a result of heat waves, crop failure occasioned by drought, health challenges due to high temperature of which all are documented and sent to the Federal Government.
