Sterling One Foundation, in partnership with the British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Ben Llewellyn-Jones, hosted a media dialogue on climate action in commemoration of the International Day for Climate Action, scheduled to hold on October 24, 2022.

The event saw partners, stakeholders, industry experts, and journalists dialoguing on the rising incidences of flooding, heatwave, water shortage, deforestation, and other consequences of climate change.

The International Day for Climate Action is a day to appraise global climate situations and determine the most effective steps to achieve the goal of cutting carbon emissions and going green.

Speaking at the media parley, Mr. Ben Llewellyn-Jones, British Deputy High Commissioner, noted it was important for Nigerians to take climate action seriously and socialize these issues as 70% of Nigeria’s population relies on climate action resources. The media should be responsible for projecting this information as environmental gatekeepers.

Peju Ibekwe, CEO of Sterling One Foundation, noted that engaging the media at this critical time was essential to creating awareness and sensitizing people to climate action. He said thousands of people are displaced, and unimaginably distressed as homes, business investments, and livelihoods have been lost in Lokoja, Kogi State, Lagos, Delta, Jigawa, Benue, and the Bayelsa States. According to National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), human loss by flooding in 2022 involved 500 deaths, with 1,500 people injured.

As the world pursues a transformative recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ibekwe noted that it appears that humanity is facing a more significant pandemic with a multi-dimensional impact and life-changing implications. Climate change is just as much a crisis as any pandemic ever witnessed. 

The State of the Climate in Africa 2020 report warned of the continent’s disproportionate vulnerability, estimating that by 2030, up to 118m impoverished Africans will be exposed to drought, floods, and extreme heat. This, in turn, will affect progress toward poverty alleviation and economic growth, leaving more people in entrenched and widespread poverty.