NATIONAL YOUTH CLIMATE CHANGE SEMINAR -

NATIONAL YOUTH CLIMATE CHANGE SEMINAR -
Understanding Climate Change and What Youth Can Do.
Organised by WORLD BANK INSTITUTE on the 23rd of November, 2009 @ New Chelsea Hotel, 123 Cadastral Zone, Central Business District Abuja.
MINUTES
Introductions:
“Today, climate change is no longer a theory or a meteorological model that interests only a few people. In view of this reality, ensuring the participation of the greatest possible swath of the population – women, men, young people, boys and girls – in developed and less developed countries alike is not only a matter of social justice and respect for human rights in the present, but also one of great significance for future generations”
The National Youth Climate Change Seminar which kicked off on a spirited note focused on enhancing practical knowledge of climate change (CC) its relevance, actions and reactions to Nigeria as a developing country, skills that were needed for youths to take reasonable and responsible mitigative and adaptive measures to better manage the effects of climate change, reduce GHG emissions and move towards sustainable development.
The one-day seminar brought together knowledge and experience from other parts of the world and from various youths from varying ethnic backgrounds, organisational framework, intellectual exposures and political frontiers. Through interactive sessions, the seasoned facilitators encouraged participants to build on their knowledge, explore their innovative minds and discuss ways they can move forward on climate action within their own communities and organisations.
Sessions:
The following topics were considered during the seminar: Climate Change – Building on Participants Knowledge; Effective Skills for Action on Climate Change: PART ONE - Communications, Use of Social Media and Innovations for Climate Action; Effective Skills for Action on Climate Change: PART TWO – Community Based Action, development and Climate Change; Concluding Session – way forward, feedback and concluding comments.
Comments:
“…to meet the challenges of the changing climate, we need to ACT NOW, ACT TOGETHER and ACT DIFFERENTLY”
Youths have a major role to play in all three ways stated above. Climate Change is not just a scientific issue…although it is a scientifically proven phenomenon which arises as a result of natural variability or human activity.
Well thought out awareness programs and aggressive climate change advocacy and campaign should be embarked on.
Grass root knowledge impartation could be characterized under the following headings: effects of climate change, evidences of climate change and examples relevant to situations in the community in order to make it more applicable and attractive to the “common mind”.
Our present and future organisational projects, goals, aspirations, visions, missions must be environment friendly, less – energy consuming.
In order to fight climate change as effectively as possible, considerations must be given to the gender – specific effects of climate change.
Today, climate change is no longer a theory or a meteorological model that interests only a few people. In view of this reality, ensuring the participation of the greatest possible swath of the population – women, men, young people, boys and girls – in developed and less developed countries alike is not only a matter of social justice and respect for human rights in the present, but also one of great significance for future generations.
Development and environment conservation strategies to deal with climate change have been suggested in two areas: adaptation to extreme climate events and mitigation of the causes of climate change.
Adaptation strategies for climate change will be more effective if made with a participatory decision – making process. Adaptation refers to changes in processes, practices, and structure to moderate potential damages to or benefit from opportunities with climate change.
In the context of climate change, mitigation is “an anthropogenic intervention to reduce the sources of greenhouse gases or enhance their sinks.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
Although climate change was initially conceived as a scientific and technical issue, expanding bases of knowledge have made it clear that the impacts are much broader; climate change is, in actuality, a socioeconomic problem. Thus, in order to fully understand and deal with climate change, it is imperative to consider the related social, economic and political aspects. Poverty and development, and the associated gender implications, for example, must be taken into account when determining appropriate responses.
WHAT WE CAN DO and SHOULD DO…
 Improve understanding and analysis of gender and climate change.
 Gather, produce and document information.
 Invest in effective communication, capacity building and development.
 Influence international and national policies
 Plan and develop gender- responsive policies and strategies
 Strengthen National and Local Capacities
To Summarize:
Climate Change poses potentially unprecedented threats to human development and well being. Much of that threat consists inter alia in changes to hydrological cycles and rain regimes, in the effect of temperature increases on evaporation, and in the worsening severity of extreme climate events. Therefore, measures have been adopted on sustainable development, climate change, biodiversity conservation, the combat against desertification, and risk reduction, among others.

Climate Change and Lagos.

City Profile 4 - Lagos
In the past two decades Lagos has been one of fastest growing cities in the world, rising from a population of two million inhabitants in the mid-1770s to some 15 million today. Lagos is the economic hub of west Africa, but the rapid growth in the size of the city has occurred largely in the absence of an associated infrastructure development.
Today the city in many ways epitomizes the problems faced by developing world mega-cities. The traffic problems in the city mean that it can sometimes take 8-hours to cross the city by car and commuters regularly need to set out at 4.30am to reach their offices. One of the first sights that greets the visitor arriving in Lagos after dark is that of fumes and smoke swirling around the headlights of grid locked traffic on the miles-long Third Mainland Bridge. The acrid smell of exhaust fumes stings the nose and mingles with the overpowering smells from the city’s largest slum town, consisting of rudimentary shacks built on stilts above the water. The slum area is situated next to a modern urban development of skyscrapers and high-walled fortified compounds in the richer neighbourhoods.
In the past a combination of official neglect and corruption, extreme poverty and rapid population growth through migration and immigration has made Lagos one of the world’s fastest growing and most disturbing examples of urbanisation. The basic problem is that the influx of new residents is largely uncontrolled and is completely exceeding the capacity of existing infrastructures.
Climate change will exacerbate the problems of especially the most vulnerable citizens. Increasing temperatures will confound the problems associated with local air pollution in the city and increase the risk of heat stress related deaths. Water supplies may be disrupted in the city and the impacts of climate change on rural areas may further increase the pressures causing the rural poor to migrate to the cities.
Some projects are now underway to tackle the infrastructure challenges of Lagos. For example, a new project initiated in 2007 by the Lagos Metropolitan Transport is aiming to put in place an improved transport infrastructure. The five billion US dollar project, supported by the World Bank, is aiming to radically improve the transport infrastructure through seven linked transport channels including, hundreds of new buses, new rail links and a radical expansion of the water taxi (or water bus) services.
The future challenge will be to continue to improve the transport system while also addressing carbon emissions and developing responses to increasingly high oil costs. Cities such as Lagos may eventually be able to benefit from using renewable energy technologies being developed in the western countries, for example solar photovoltaics and electric vehicles. The success of mobile phones in Africa suggests that decentralized solutions that do not have huge infrastructure costs may be especially suitable, but they need to be both economically and culturally attractive to consumers. International agreements on climate change in the future increasingly need to provide financial and technical assistance to enable cities such as Lagos to achieve a cleaner development.
The 21st century will increasingly witness the phenomena of the developing-world mega-city. Rural poverty is one of the main drivers of a rapid expansion of Africa’s large cities, which the United Nations says are undergoing a process of “over-urbanisation” in which they are unable to support their growing populations. A shortage of jobs and infrastructure investments means that they cannot meet even people’s most minimal needs. Climate change will need to be framed in the context of achieving a sustainable development pathway that combines economic growth, poverty reductio