Environment

A renowned  environmentalist, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, on Thursday, attributed the rising global temperatures to global addiction to fossil fuels and their extractions.

Bassey stated this during a virtual session, hosted by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and Young Volunteers for the Environment (YVE) in Yenagoa.

The News agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bassey holds a national honour of Member of Order of Federal Republic (OFR) in recognition of his environmental activism.

NAN also reports that the environmental activist, who is the Executive Director of HOMEF, spoke in his submissions at the foundation’s School of Ecology session on the topic: “Agro-ecology: A Real Climate Change Solution.”

He noted that the climate crisis caused by the quest for fossil fuels exploration and production activities were destructive to nature, thus resulting in the rising temperatures across the world.

According to Bassey, the solution to the climate crisis, which includes the ongoing flooding across the country, lies in ending the dependence on fossils and switching to renewable energy sources.

He said that it was disheartening that European nations were searching for alternative sources of oil and gas from Africa, amidst the Russia-Ukraine war, to satisfy their appetite for fossil energy rather than switching to the renewable.

“The addiction to fossil fuels has created a plethora of problems for the environment and the northern hemisphere has unleashed more pollution to the atmosphere, thus resulting in more impact on the southern hemisphere.

“It has been established that agro-ecology, based on natural dynamics of biodiversity, is cooling the planet and capable of reversing the damage done by climate change.

“It is the concept of these scientific findings that we are propagating amongst farmers across the world and recommending, as world leaders gather soon in Egypt for the Conference of Parties 27 (COP 27),” he said.

Executive Director of YVE, Mr Sema Alouke, in his presentation, urged participants to deepen the concept of agro-ecology by sharing ideas and best practices, as they established ties across Africa.

NAN reports that the virtual session was anchored and moderated by Mfoniso Antia, Lead, Ikike Desk, the learning organ of HOMEF.

The event drew speakers and participants from the collaborating groups’ volunteers in all states of the federation and outside the country. (NAN) 

A.I

Tags: Dr Nnimmo Bassey Health of Mother Earth Foundation Ikike Desk Mfoniso Antia Mr Sema Alouke