President Muhammadu Buhari says the formation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) decades ago has created awareness of the need to make climate and environmental action a priority for the world.
The Nigerian leader on Thursday called for concerted action to make the organisation’s efforts a success story.
Buhari, currently in Kenya, wrote a congratulatory message to the Special Session to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UN body.
He noted that more actions are needed to overcome climate change, biodiversity, rising levels of pollution and waste.
The President said desertification and drought are threatening lives and livelihoods which further underscores the need to boost biodiversity in ecosystem restoration.
“We thank UNEP for its role in reducing biodiversity loss and for being a major player in the global movement to slow deforestation and accelerate aforestation.
“We recognize that restoring key ecosystems is crucial to help combat climate change and achieve sustainable development.
“By collaborating with partners such as UNEP, we believe that much more successes would be recorded as we journey in our collective struggle against climate change,” he said.
Recalling last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, Buhari said parties agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also pledging to take steps to adapt to climate impacts.
He observed global threats of disrupted weather patterns, low food production and rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding among other challenges.
The President re-echoed Nigeria’s pledge to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and confirmed the increment of conditional contribution to reducing greenhouse gas from 45% to 47%.
