TARABA State Governor, Agbu Kefas, has launched the state’s Climate Change Policy and Action Plan, warning that the future of its forests and rivers could be at stake without collective and sustained action to address the effects of climate change.
“We are deciding whether our forests will still be standing and whether our rivers will still be flowing,” Kefas said while unveiling the document in Jalingo, stressing the need for coordinated efforts to protect the state’s environment and natural resources.
News Point Nigeria reports that the Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Hajiya Aishat Barde, said climate action was not the responsibility of government alone, urging ministries, local government councils, traditional institutions, communities, youth and women’s groups, the private sector and development partners to take ownership of their respective roles in implementing the policy.
Barde described the launch as the beginning of a new phase of coordinated and measurable climate action in the state, while thanking Natural Eco Capital, the Society for Planet and Prosperity, and the African Climate Foundation for their support in developing the policy.
Kefas said climate change was already disrupting agriculture in Taraba through unpredictable rainfall patterns and drying rivers, warning that the effects were increasingly being felt by communities across the state.
The governor directed that environmental considerations be mainstreamed into planning across critical sectors, including health, infrastructure and education, as part of efforts to ensure that development activities take climate-related risks into account.
He said local governments would play a central role in the implementation of the policy because flooding and bush burning occur mainly at the community level, making grassroots participation essential to achieving meaningful environmental protection.
Kefas also advocated improved waste management alongside sustained efforts to protect the state’s forests and discourage bush burning, stressing the need for communities to adopt practices that would help preserve the environment for future generations.
The governor said the success of the Climate Change Policy and Action Plan would not be measured by the number of workshops held or documents produced, but by tangible changes in communities and improvements in the environment.
He therefore called on the Federal Government, the National Council on Climate Change and international partners to support Taraba State in implementing the plan and translating its objectives into practical actions that would protect the state’s forests, rivers and communities.
