Gibson Achonu Critical stakeholders in Imo State have called on the state government to take proactive measures to tackle the negative effects of climate change on the socio-economic life and health of the people. The call was made at the inception meeting of the newly inaugurated Imo State Climate Change Technical Committee held in Owerri. The committee comprising experts in environment, public health, law, education, media, power and electrification, and climate change consultants, expressed worry over the lack of existing policy or legal framework governing climate change in the state.
The stakeholders also advocated for the domestication of the National Climate Change Act, 2019 and Energy Transition Plan, 2021 in the state to help mitigate the adverse effects of flooding, gully erosion, and other impacts of climate change. Speaking at the meeting, the Director of Spaces for Change, Victoria Ibezim-Ohari, a United Kingdom-trained environmental expert, Dr Temple Oraeki, public health expert, Dr Obiora Elizabeth, and other committee members stressed the urgent need for energy and environmental justice, housing and urban governance in the state. Ibezim-Ohari and the others disclosed that Imo State ranks 24th among the 36 states in the country with high effects of climate change, adding that many lives and economic values have been lost in the state in the past few years, owing to the environmental menace.
They insisted that formulating policy or law in the state would, among .