Provision of quality public services like healthcare, water and energy should be at the core of the energy transition by the Nigerian government, Public Services International (PSI) has said.
The global workers organisation said climate change should not be an excuse for government to privatise the public sector, adding that climate change financing should be used to strengthen public institutions and public delivery of services rather than facilitate private investment in public services
“We have to strengthen the public healthcare system to ensure that we deal with the impact of climate change” Sandra Van Niekerk, PSI Project Cordinator for Climate Change said at a 2 days capacity building for its affiliates in Abuja.
The workshop which was done with support from the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV Mondiaal) is targeted at building capacity for unions in electricity and health sector in Nigeria to understand and engage government in Just Transition discussions.
Sandra explained that, “we are talking about the ways that climate change is already impacting on people – with floods, drought, and people being displaced, and all of those consequences. People can deal better with the consequences if they have strong public services being delivered to them.
“If there’s flooding of an area, obviously there will be people that will be displaced. But they can go back to their homes if they know that the public sector is able to lay back the water pipes, reconnect electricity, because then people can carry on with their lives.
“So, the stronger, or the more that the public services are in place and accessible for people, the more people can deal with the consequences of climate change, and the stronger people are to actually be able to withstand those consequences.”
She said further, “It’s important that government is delivering those public services, because we know that when the private sector delivers basic services, they do it on a profit basis. And so for poor, vulnerable people who don’t have money, who can’t afford those services, they they’re at most risk of climate change. So if you want to strengthen people’s ability to withstand climate change, you have to have public services which the government is delivering, and it’s being delivered as a public good, not as a commercial good. And that will strengthen people’s ability to withstand climate change.”
Also speaking, Luis Monje, PSI UD officer said privatising public services will increase the inequality gap, and lead to more poverty, noting that on the other hand access to quality public services is a way to redistribute wealth.
Speaking further on the campaign for Just Transition in the energy sector, he said, “As we transit to cleaner energy, in some sectors unfortunately, many workers are likely to lose their jobs. So during the process of Just transition, we must ensure that those workers do not suffer and are provided with transition plans to make their lives easier
PSI which has been a leading global voice for quality public services says its message on just transition is clear: No justice transition is possible without quality public services and decent jobs
