Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa
A renowned Environmentalist, Dr Nnimmo Bassey on Thursday said that the adverse effects of climate change, notably floods, rising temperatures and drought were due to abuse of rights of nature.
The Environmentalist explained that climate change was nature’s way of reacting to human activities that distort its dynamics and balance.
Bassey, Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), who spoke at a virtual forum titled “Conversations with Nature” attributed the current climate crisis to the dependence on fossil fuels.
He noted that nature has been resilient and endured several decades of destructive human activities in the extractive industry in search of fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases that hurt the ecosystem.
Bassey who holds a national honour of Member of the Order of Federal Republic, for Environmental Activism, co-hosted the conversation with Mfoniso Antia, Lead, Ikike Desk, the learning organ of HOMEF.
The environmental rights advocate recommended that diversifying the energy sources and shift away from fossils holds the key to solving the problems of global warming, distorted global ecology amongst others.
“The world has carried on as if there is just one source of energy, beyond fossils there are so many sources of energy that do not destroy natural resources and they are renewables.
“To get out of the climate crisis starring the world in the face we need to switch to renewable energy sources and stop ecologically destructive activities. We need to go back to Eti Uwem which stands for the good life in Ibibio and includes communal and cooperative living as opposed to individualism.
“We need to embrace concepts like ‘Etuwem’ which stands for good life in communal space as opposed to individualism.
“From recent developments and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, we have come to realise that we are all interconnected and hence the need to reverse the extractive paradigms that destroy natural biodiversity,” Bassey said.
He called on world leaders to end gas flares with resultant emission of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.
The forum, an initiative of HOMEF’s School of Ecology drew participants from volunteers of the group from various states of the federation and outside the country.