By Chuks Oyema-Aziken and Felix Khanoba
The Federal Government has called for massive mobilisation of financial resources to address the environmental challenges confronting the country.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mahmud Kambari, made the call during the opening of the 17th meeting of the National Council on Environment on Monday in Abuja.
Speaking at the commencement of the three-day event, that attracted stakeholders from across the country, Kambari expressed the need for robust intervention in the environment sector.
His words : “As you are aware, one of the foremost challenges confronting our sector is the issue of funding.
“Despite the undeniable significance of environmental preservation to human well-being, successive administrations have struggled to allocate resources commensurate with the scale and urgency of environmental challenges.
“It is important, therefore, that we beam a spotlight on the critical issue of financing, to devise robust funding models and explore diverse avenues for resource generation to address the sector effectively.”
On the theme of the event, ‘Environment Financing: Need to mobilise more financial inflows to generate adequate resources in support of environmental sustainability efforts,’ the Permanent Secretary said it is in tandem with the priorities of the present administration.
While expressing the readiness of the present administration to harness energy and natural resources for sustainable development in the country, the perm sec called for more concerted efforts to preserve the well being of the environment.
“Let us embark on this journey of collaboration and innovation to safeguard our environment for generations to come,” Mr. Kambari said.
The AUTHORITY reports that the day one event of the 17th National Council of Environment meeting witnessed technical sessions and a presentation on ‘Nigeria Biosafety System Progress and Opportunities’ by the National Biosafety Management Agency.
