By Ofoegbu Donald Ikenna
Just closed on the October 1st 2015 deadline was the unprecedented Global Breath of Climate Action Plans ahead of Paris UN conference. 146 countries covering almost 87% of Global Emissions submitted their climate action plans to UN. It is sad to say that in this august occasion, Nigeria missed out and did not summit any climate action plan despite being a large producer of fossil fuel as well as a victim to the adverse effects of global warming. The Paris UN climate conference in December 2015 will deliver a new universal climate change agreement. The new agreement is aimed at putting the world firmly on track to a low-carbon, sustainable future that keeps a global temperature rise under 2c degrees.
Yet Nigeria seems uninterested. On this note, there is need to recount some of our contribution to the problem and why Nigeria ought to take responsibility and join other nations who are championing the fight against global emission.
Every year, around 140 billion cubic meters of natural gas produced together with oil is wastefully burnt or flared at thousands of oil fields around the world. This results in more than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere; equivalent to emissions from approximately 77 million cars. Nigeria flares about 1.2billion cubic feet (bcf/d) of gas a day. This amount of gas flare represents 12.5% of all globally flared gas.
On the health damages, the emissions from gas flaring contain smoke, soot, smog and other acidic particles which constitute serious health hazards mostly in the form of respiratory track diseases. The presence of carbon and traces of nitrogen and sulfur in natural gas leads to the production of various oxides and sulphides. When these chemicals are inhaled through flaring, it settles in nostrils down to the lungs as thick carbon monoxide, which blocks the passage of oxygenated blood to the heart of human beings and animals.
The oxides and sulfides in hydro-carbon with gaseous chemicals when flared combine with water in the atmosphere to form various types of corrosive acids such as nitric and sulfurous acids that irritates the human skin and prevent plants chlorophyll from functioning.
This also leads to cancer of the skin and corrodes galvanized roofing sheets around oil and gas production zones.
Other environmental hazards associated with gas flaring include; increased environmental temperature, heat-wave and global warming. These environmentally degrading conditions dehydrate surroundings, habitats, eco-system, food chains, nitrogen cycle, oxygen cycle, flora and fauna, animals and vegetations and thereby cause their actual deaths or poor yields of environmental resources.
Gaseous acids like cadmium, benzene and calcium also pollutes streams, natural water ways like swamps, creeks, ponds, including arable farm lands, rivers, soil nutrients and thereby kill fishes, aquatic animals and plants and starve human beings of sources of clean water.
Seeking solutions, the Nigerian government should get serious on the issues of climate change in Nigeria. Government in consultation with communities and industry stakeholders should fix a definite time frame to end flaring of associated gas and fully implement the Gas Re-injection Act.
The government should lead the way by honouring joint venture commitments in the form of paying their portion of the penalties, so as to have the moral-standi to ask IOCs to pay theirs; after-all the marginal differences comes back to the government of Nigeria in the form of revenue.
In accordance with the recommendations of the Ribadu Committee Report, DPR should independently track and record gas production and sales data.
The DPR should develop a proper process to independently track and record gas flare figures. This would ensure that there are no losses of revenues due to the Federation Account. It would also provide the important data necessary for reservoir management.
Government ministries and departments of energy and environment, as well as Communities, CSOs and Earth-Friendly organisations, should introduce initiatives, collaboration
and practices that will mitigate the effects of climate change as well as the adoption of greener technologies; cutting down of fossil fuel usage and planting more trees in parks, schools and communities.
Finally, it is a disheartening that the supposed giant of Africa;
the most populated black nation in the world and possible the most energy divers nation in the world- Nigeria, still prefers to take the back seat in such critical discussions that determines the welfare of our existence and those of the future black race. There is therefore the need to ask the governing APC administration to drive passion and instigate ways of implementing the party’s manifesto on climate change in tandem with international discussions such as these.
Plant and tree; Nigeria be concerned.
Ikenna is of Centre for Social Justice, Abuja, 08030840041
