According to the Federal Ministry of Environment, a major obstacle facing the environmental sector is the issue of securing sufficient funding. During the technical session of the 17th National Council on Environment meeting in Abuja, Mahmud Kambari, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, emphasized the importance of mobilizing additional resources to support environmental sustainability efforts. The theme of the meeting was Environment financing: Need to explore new avenues for generating sufficient funds. The council in Nigeria serves as the primary authority for making decisions and providing guidance on environmental matters, fostering discussions and consultations to address issues related to the environment.
Mahmud emphasized that the meeting would provide valuable insights into how environmental stewardship plays a critical role in shaping the future of Nigeria. It is no secret that the primary obstacle facing the industry is the lack of funding. Despite the crucial importance of preserving the environment for human health, past administrations have found it difficult to provide adequate resources to address the pressing environmental issues at hand. He stressed the significance of bringing attention to the crucial matter of funding in order to create strong financial strategies and investigate various ways to gather resources to effectively meet the needs of the sector.
Dedication to protecting the environment for future generations.
His observation highlighted the consolidation of the technical session into six thematic clusters, creating a platform for thorough discussions on the memoranda crafted by the Technical Working Groups of experts. Different thematic areas within the environment sector have been used to form the groups, including climate change and renewable energy; forestry, drought, and desertification; pollution control and environmental health; flood, erosion, coastal zone management; environmental impact assessment, regulation issues; and institutional governance. The permanent secretary expressed anticipation that the conclusions reached in the discussions would be used as a guide for implementing effective policies and programs by the Council.
These would be in line with international standards and would help achieve our country’s development goals. Encouraging participants to actively participate, he emphasized the importance of tapping into their vast array of experiences, ideas, and technical knowledge to enhance the quality of their conversations. Today, they have a unique opportunity to utilize the knowledge and expertise gathered in the room to create a long-term and efficient plan for Nigeria’s environmental future. He urged everyone to join hands in a joint effort towards creativity and teamwork, with a strong dedication to protecting the environment for future generations.
The built environment stands in stark contrast to the natural world.
More so, the entirety of the natural environment includes everything that occurs organically, both living and non-living, as opposed to man-made or artificial. It is typically associated with Earth, or specific regions of Earth, and involves the relationships between living organisms, climate, weather, and resources that impact human existence and economic endeavours. The built environment stands in stark contrast to the natural world, as human beings have reshaped landscapes to create urban areas and convert agricultural land.
Even seemingly minor actions, like constructing a mud hut or installing solar panels in an arid desert, contribute to the transformation of the natural environment into an artificial one. Even though animals construct structures for their benefit, they are not considered human. Therefore, beaver dams and the efforts of mound-building termites are seen as part of nature. No part of Earth remains untouched by human activity, with natural environments ranging from completely untouched to completely altered.
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Additionally, the significant impact of humanity in the Anthropocene era has altered every corner of the natural world, from changes in climate to loss of biodiversity and pollution from various sources in both air and water. When examining an environment, one can analyse the various elements present and note that their level of naturalness does not follow a consistent pattern. For example, while the mineral composition and soil structure of an agricultural field may resemble that of a pristine forest soil, the overall structure is noticeably distinct.
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