By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mahmud Adam Kambari has described the media as a powerful tool in driving actions against the effects of climate change.
He said this at a three-day capacity-building training for selected journalists from the southern part of the country held in Lagos.
The training was organised by the Nigeria Climate Change Response Programme, a European Union-supported programme in collaboration with the Department of Climate Change (DCC), Federal Ministry of Environment.
Kambari, represented by the Director, DCC, Dr. Iniobong Abiola-Awe said the ministry recognizes the powers of journalists to amplify voices, drive change, and hold decision-makers accountable, hence their training on climate change.
“As journalists, communicators, and storytellers, you can amplify voices, drive change, and hold decision-makers accountable,” he said.
“Climate change is a defining challenge of our time. It threatens our communities, economies, and planet’s very existence. The urgency of this crisis requires all of us to take bold and immediate action to mitigate its effects and adapt to the changing climate.
“As media professionals, you play a vital role in catalysing climate actions by informing, educating, inspiring, and mobilising individuals, communities, and nations to take meaningful steps toward a more sustainable and resilient future. As media professionals, you can shape the narrative, influence public opinion, and drive action on climate change
NCCRP Communications Expert, Elizabeth Mwaniki, said the training is designed to expose the journalists to the tools that they could use to disseminate information that could help fight climate change.
She said “With this type of capacity-building training, we hope that journalists will get more involved in helping to disseminate information about climate change issues. There will be more visibility on climate change because it is already becoming a threat to most communities in Nigeria.
“The issue of sea rise, flooding, heatwave and a whole lot is there. So, we believe that with the right understanding of the issues involved, people, government and every one of us will begin to make decisive actions to fight off this challenge to enhance the sustainability of our environment.”
Earlier, the Team Leader of Nigerian Climate Change Response Programme, Dr. Todd Ngara said one of the NCCRP key tasks is raising awareness of and keeping climate change related issues on the public agenda by building the capacity of journalists and enlisting their support in sustaining engaging reporting and production of stories on climate change across multiple platforms.
He said the overall objectives of the programme is to establish the Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) framework and implement the sustainable sectoral MRV systems for waste and energy; disseminate climate change knowledge through awareness-raising campaigns targeting the youth, civil society, stakeholders and policymakers.
