Climate Change experts and stakeholders have called on leaders of African countries to urgently domesticate the draft model climate change law to speed up efforts in tackling the impact of climate change on the continent.
The law seeks to promote sustainable development by upholding the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
It also establishes a comprehensive legal framework for climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience building across African nations.
However, only a handful of African countries, including Uganda, Nigeria, Benin Republic, South Africa, Mauritius and Kenya have so far passed the law by their parliaments, a situation that drew the concerns of the stakeholders, considering the small number.
The stakeholders, who spoke in Abuja on Tuesday, participated in the “Validation Retreat on the Draft Model Climate Change Law for Africa” with the theme, ‘Strengthening National Parliaments For Oversight In Climate Action.’
The session was organised by the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES) in conjunction with the National Institute For Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) and other participating bodies.
According to the stakeholders, the failure of most African countries to pass the draft law makes them lose access to funds devoted to tackling environmental challenges across the globe.
NILDS’ Director-General, Prof Abubakar Sulaiman, in a speech to welcome the stakeholders, said 2025 presented fresh challenges for climate change action on the continent, adding that the developed countries might begin to politicise commitments to climate agreements and other support services.
Prof Sulaiman stated, “The world today is warmer than it was just a few years ago.
“Consequently, it is essential for all countries to coordinate efforts that contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation policies while minimising the losses and damage associated with climate change.
“Despite progress made by other regions in global climate change negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COPs), Africa continues to lag behind.
“This is largely because African countries participated at COPs as individual nations rather than as a united bloc.
“This fragmentation approach weakens Africa’s negotiating power and diminishes its ability to influence critical decisions and resolutions arising from these global gatherings.
“While it is true that African countries face diverse development challenges resulting from adverse impacts of climate change, the continent has yet to prioritise coordinated climate actions in desperate needs.
“A significant barrier to achieving this coordination is the lack of a comprehensive legal framework for climate action in many African countries.
“Even in countries like Nigeria that have enacted climate legislation, gaps remain that must be addressed through targeted legislative interventions.”
He argued that domesticating the model climate change law by African countries had become the most urgent
The NILDS’ DG explained, “Its purpose is to inspire countries without existing legislation to adopt robust climate laws by leveraging the experiences of countries that have already implemented such a framework.
“At the same time, it provides an opportunity for countries with existing legal frameworks to identify and address shortcomings in their legal frameworks, thereby strengthening their capacity for effective climate action.”
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He suggested that in domesticating the law, the countries should adopt the model developed by AGNES to assist the nations to solidify their positions, adding, “This approach will assist African countries, like Nigeria, to access global climate funds to finance climate-change-responsive public services and development needs.
Sulaiman further said this would enhance the opportunities available to the counties to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Speaking about Nigeria in particular, the DG said the country was making progress in enhancing its climate change governance actions like dredging major rivers and dams to contain the devastation caused by floods and erosion.
However, he called for more efforts, especially funding to speed up the pace of the projects.
Sulaiman spoke more, “Whereas many stakeholders have recognised the need for dredging of major rivers and dams, the commitment of public funds in this direction has been poor.
“For instance, of the total of N14.85 trillion proposed for capital expenditure in the 2025 budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria, only a minimum percentage (0.03%) is committed to projects aimed at dredging major rivers and dams.
“Dredging these waterways remains vital to mitigate the devastating impacts of floods in 2025 and beyond; hence, it should be given the necessary priority in the 2025 budget.”
On his part, the Team Lead of AGNES, D George Wamukoya, told the gathering that the retreat was a forum for legal experts and leaders of governments responsible for climate change to look at the possible framework that could resolve the challenges they faced in legislative drafting.
“We do have a draft modern climate change law which will be able, once the legal experts here have gone through it and agreed upon, then we’ll be able to see how to roll it out in different countries across Africa.
“Now in many, some of the countries that have climate change legislation, there is conflict between the organs that have been established”, he said.
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