The Kaduna State Commissioner of Environment and Natural Resources, Abubakar Buba, emphasised state-level collaboration to address climate insecurity as a regional threat.
The seven northwestern states in Nigeria have signed the Kano Declaration on Climate Change and Environment to address the climate crisis in the region.
The representatives of the states - Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara - made the commitment on Thursday at the North-west Commissioners Summit on Climate Change hosted by the Kano State Ministry of Environment.
Convened by Surge Africa, the summit was aimed at promoting dialogue, collaboration, and fostering inter-state strategies on climate change in the North-west region of Nigeria.
According to a statement Friday by Surge Africa, the Kano declaration underlined the states' pledge to the conservation of biodiversity, rural integration, enhanced collaboration and partnerships, adaptation finance, sustainable development, and climate security among others in the region.
The summit had the state commissioners and other stakeholders from the seven states in Nigeria deliberate on vital issues that intersect climate change, sustainable development, and climate security, and also develop action plans and climate funds to drive the actualisation of the commitments.
States collaboration
In his remarks, the Kaduna State Commissioner of Environment and Natural Resources, Abubakar Buba, said that climate security is a regional problem and must be addressed as such "because the bush that runs from Sokoto to Kaduna and down to Niger State is the same."
"Therefore, we must look at it beyond state-level and collaboration to address these issues as a regional threat," Mr Buba said.
The Founder of Surge Africa, Nasreen Al-Amin, also underscored the need for the government and stakeholders to collaborate on climate change.
"The summit revealed the readiness of states to collaborate with civil society organisations (CSOs) and development partners to advance state initiatives," Ms Al-Amin said.
Ms Al-Amin's organisation is a non-profit collaborating with governments and stakeholders to promote, design and implement innovative measures that improve approaches to climate adaptation in Nigeria and Africa.
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"Not only is the summit timely in terms of the critical issues that were discussed, it also presented a unique opportunity for CSOs to partner with state actors in scaling tangible climate solutions," she said.
"This is also where Surge Africa plays an integral role, by bringing together key stakeholders to discuss strategic frameworks such as the State Climate Action Plan and Climate Fund that needs to be developed to integrate climate adaptation at the state level."
About Summit
According to Surge Africa, the key objectives of the summit included promoting resilience development, exploring strategies to enhance community and facilitating the collaborative development of State Action Plans on Climate Change for each of the seven North-west states.
"With the escalating climate crisis in Nigeria and the passage of the Climate Change Bill into law, Surge Africa believes that state governments must urgently increase their ambitions around mitigating the social, economic and environmental crises exacerbated by climate change, especially in fragile ecosystems like Northern Nigeria," the statement read in parts.
"State governments, partners and relevant stakeholders expressed strong support for Surge Africa's proposals for the adoption of a State Climate Action Plan and State Climate Fund."
It added that they acknowledged the importance of these frameworks in fostering a sustainable and resilient future for the region as enshrined in the Kano Declaration on Climate Change and Environment.
The event is its first series of ecosystem summits to facilitate climate adaptation solutions through policy, media & communications and resilience.
