Enugu gov’t launches campaign on climate change

Enugu gov’t launches campaign on climate change: Worried by the greenhouse gas emissions and its effect on human beings and the environment,

the Enugu State Government has launched an aggressive campaign targeted at regulating and

curtailing the harmful impacts posed by the emissions and other activities capable of eroding the climate.

The state government, as a deliberate step to achieving this, has commenced training and capacity

building programme on environment and climate change for staff of the state’s Ministry of Environment

and Climate Change and other public workers.

The government stressed that the governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, was poised for a net-zero commitment

to making a huge difference in the fight against climate change.

Enugu gov’t launches campaign on climate change: The Training

Speaking at the training on Thursday, via Zoom at a training session orgainsed for the staff in

Enugu, the Senior Advisor to the Governor on Climate Change and Sustainable Development,

Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, said the state was commencing the series of training and capacity

building with the staff of the Ministry to help them lead the campaign and mitigate the activities

threatening the environment.

He noted that the government would stop at nothing in restoring a livable, friendly and healthy

ecology in the state, even as he maintained that the campaign and sensitisation were designed

in phases for communities, schools, industrialists, stakeholders, and town-hall engagements on

later dates.

On his part, an environmental consultant, Mr. Ozorgwu Chinedu, who spoke on the theme,

“Monitoring Tools and Checklist for Telecom Infrastructure,” introduced staff of the Ministry

to the different approaches and tools of monitoring telecommunication infrastructure and

evaluating their impacts on the environment.

The Tools

According to him, these tools could be used to check the ratios of radiation, gases, noise from

telecom infrastructure and how they affect the environment, warning that lack of compliance

to globally accepted standard provided by the Environmental Impact Assessment Act as well

as the National Environmental (Standard for Telecoms & Broadcast Facilities) Regulations, 2011,
could spell doom to human existence.

Mr. Chinedu underscored the importance of having telecom infrastructure frequently monitored

and checked because of their negative impacts on the ecosystem.

He stated that most telecoms were using generators to power their networks, thus releasing

nauseous gases to the air and causing harm to the environment over time.

“These greenhouse gases or emissions go up to the atmosphere, and subsequently trap

heat which make the planet warmer. It is only when you monitor these infrastructures

that you can see the extent of what they produce and the effect of their pollution,” he said.

He further called for proper management and disposal of waste such as used batteries,

which contain heavy metals with greater potential to cause havoc to the environment.

The Hazardous Materials

“We must be mindful of the open dumping of hazardous and non-hazardous materials,

which usually find their way to bodies of water and cause harm,” he added.

Among the topics the consultant focused on were how to use the radio frequency/electromagnetic

frequency, GPS, units of measurements of emission and radiation, guidelines/reference values

and limit standards for electrical and electronics, use of multi-gas detection, mobile telephony

and the environment and hazard spotting.

Commending Prof. Chukwumerije for accepting to work for the state government on climate,

the Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Prof. Sam Ugwu, said the

administration of Dr. Mbah remained focused and committed to join leading

sub-nationals to address the challenges of climate change.

The commissioner stressed that the training would help staff of his Ministry to

update their knowledge on the use of modern climate facilities and technology,

adding that the state had joined the global voice for climate regulation and environmental protection.

According to him, the state government has introduced some measures to ensure that

some of the negative impacts of greenhouse emissions are mitigated.

Renewable Energy

“One of the steps we have taken is the sealing of illegal mines because these mining

activities damage our environment, including our water bodies” he stated.

He explained that the state was now investing in clean and renewable energy to protect

the environment.

“The New Enugu City is going to be a smart city and it’s going to be green-friendly.

“We are also looking at electric vehicles that will not pollute our environment. So, we have started the process of sensitising our people on how to efficiently manage their environment for a healthy living,” he concluded.