President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday called for greater global cooperation against the devastating effects of climate change.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2016 World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, President Buhari reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to work with UAE and rest of the world in a collective effort to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Buhari, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said: “Africa is already suffering from the consequences of climate change, which include recurrent drought and floods. In Nigeria, the drastic drying up of the Lake Chad to just about 10 per cent of its original size, has negatively impacted on the livelihood of millions of people, and contributed in making the region a hot bed of insurgency.
“Desert encroachment in Niger, our northern neighbour and in far northern Nigeria, at the rate of several hundred meters per annum, has impacted on the existence of man, animal and vegetation, threatening to alter the whole ecological balance of the sub-region.
“In the middle and southern part of Nigeria, land erosion threatens farming, forestry, town and village peripheries and in some areas major highways.
“Constant and abrupt alteration between floods and droughts prove that climate change is real and therefore a global approach and cooperation to combat its effects will be vital if the human race is not to face disaster in the 21st century.”
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