From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has declared that climate change constitutes a fundamental human rights emergency, calling on governments, businesses, civil society organisations, and citizens to take urgent collective action to protect the environment for present and future generations.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, made the call on the eve of World Environment Day, marked annually on June 5, warning that the consequences of climate inaction were already being felt across Nigeria in the form of recurrent flooding, desertification, drought, and coastal erosion.
Ojukwu stated that climate change threatened the enjoyment of fundamental rights, including the rights to life, health, food, housing, development, and a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, stressing that its devastating effects went far beyond environmental concerns.
“Climate change is not only an environmental issue but also a human rights issue,” he said, noting that its impact was most severely felt by women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons, and low-income communities, who bore the greatest burden of climate-related disasters and environmental degradation.
The NHRC boss also raised alarm over environmental pollution from industrial and urban waste, including plastic pollution, oil spills, and improper waste disposal, which he said continued to degrade ecosystems and threaten public health, with dire consequences for livelihoods, food security, and access to clean water among vulnerable populations.
Ojukwu urged governments at all levels to strengthen climate action, enforce environmental laws, and invest in sustainable solutions including renewable energy, afforestation, environmental conservation, and effective disaster-risk management.
He equally called on businesses and other stakeholders to adopt environmentally responsible practices and ensure that economic activities did not undermine the rights and well being of affected communities.
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