HOW THE MASSES CAN CONTRIBUTE IN MILITATING AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
In order to reduce the environmental degradation that leads to climate change, every Nigerian is expected to adopt healthy practices in their everyday life. We therefore, recommend the following practices for a healthy environment;
- Choice of Food – Most of the food crops consumed today in Nigeria are cultivated using chemically-made fertilizers, pesticides, etc. Since these chemical-based products are energy-intensive, they contain high level of carbon. It, therefore, poses a higher risk of releases of CO2 than consuming food crops cultivated with organic-based manure.
- Means of Transportation –The major means of transportation in Nigeria is by motor-vehicle (including car, truck, etc.).The amount of CO2 released from fossil fuel used to power these vehicles is overwhelming. The risk of raising the atmospheric temperature through ‘greenhouse effect’ is, therefore increased. By using other means like bicycle, walking (for short distances), and electric cars. These options do not only reduce emissions to the surroundings but also reduces the traffic and encourages exercise for physical fitness. For many of us our transport emission are dominated by car use, and average 1.3 liter run around in the space of a year , clock up somewhere between 4 and 6 tons of greenhouse gas ,cars has have come to play such a leading role in human induced climate change. public transport can offer a realistic alternative to getting the car and potential climate benefits of good, well-used public transport are massive the trouble is that we don’t tend to use it very much, it’s a real tragedy that our use of public transport has plummeted in the last decade.
- Home energy usage: like transport this slice of the total greenhouse gas pie is growing rapidly, but here we as individuals have an even potential to make a difference. Having left our down-sized dual-fuelled car on the drive and stepped into our house, the biggest energy user at home is right there waiting to greet us temperature control. by minimizing and storing our energy it will with energy storage capabilities it will help us a lot , the simple action of lowering the thermostat and pulling on more cloths in winter or hermathan period can help cut emission by third and ensuring that your home is well insulated will allow you to keep the heating or the air conditioning silent for long period of time and can cut the related greenhouse emission by up to 40%, after home temperature control ,the biggest drains on energy in our homes are appliances and lighting options for A or A+ related appliances and low energy light bulbs can save sustainable amount of energy and curtail greenhouse emission , for instance every low energy light bulb that replaces traditional one can save 1500 naira every year on the house hold electricity bill and cut 60kg of greenhouse gas.
- Waste disposition and recycling: the public can help by disposing waste properly and as at when and where it should be to allow free flow of water ways.
HOW THE GOVERNMENT CAN CONTRIBUTE
- Making Laws on the use of motor-vehicle: The government should make laws that help to reduce the number of motor-vehicles in use. Such laws should usually involve banning or placing a high taxation on the usage of motor-vehicles that causes the most environmental pollution.
- Restructuring the transportation system: Transportation mechanism that reduces the numbers of motor-vehicles on the road should be encouraged. For instance, the carpooling system should be employed to reduce the number of ‘free’ motor-vehicle on the road. Government should provide a well-designed public transport that can make it easy and cheap for the masses so that they can reduce their dependency on private cars which can help to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by cars on the road.
- Stricter monitoring of wood usage and animal hunting: Adequate resources should be provided in form of personnel and equipment to fight against illegal felling of trees and poaching.
- Establishing in each Local Government an Eco-station charged with delivering environmental friendly services, sensitization and monitoring.
- Funding: The government should collaborate with and fund any viable initiative towards achieving a sustainable environment.
- The government should introduce laws that can allow car manufacturers in the country to produce hybrid cars running on a mix of petrol and electricity generated during braking, can cut greenhouse emission by more than a third, while using fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas or biofuel can also make in reads into transport emissions.
- Micro generation: Government should provide grants for home owners so that they can install solar panels, wind turbines, ground heat pumps and so called micro generation technologies in their homes, though the cost is high but it is reducing gradually.
- Government should propose a climate action plan that would create carbon pollution standard for power plants and expand renewable energy production.
- Implementation of the President’s proposed funding for studying the impact of climate change.
- Green energy supply scheme: this scheme can be initiated by the government for to encourage the effort of the public as loan and other incentives can be sourced by help of the government.