Friday, June 11, 2010

Nigeria may lose 9 billion dollars to climate change

Abimbola Akosile in AllAfrica.com via This Day (Nigeria): The Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Kjell Lillerud, has admonished Nigerian politicians to take the issue of climate change very seriously, just as the Executive Director of the Africa Leadership Forum (ALF) Ota, Ogun State, Mr. Ayo Aderinwale, underscored the catastrophic effect of the phenomenon on human and natural resources.

Aderinwale said, "The expected impact of the impending global warming is not lost on Nigeria. The 800km long coast line, intensified desertification, erosion and flooding disasters and general land degradation as well as other risky practices, puts us in a vulnerable position with an estimated $9 billion (about N1.36 trillion) likely to be lost as a result of the catastrophe with about 80 per cent of the inhabitant of the Niger Delta likely to be displaced."

…Ambassador Lillerud said there Nigerian politicians "need in-depth knowledge of the climate change and how it affects various parts of Nigeria" as well as how national policies are linked to international and global political processes. He therefore called on parliamentarians to "think globally and act locally", over the phenomenon that he acknowledged as global....

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