By Usman Aliyu
Experts in catastrophe threat administration and environmental sustainability have urged youths to embrace climate-friendly practices and change into energetic brokers of local weather change mitigation.
The specialists made the decision on Friday at a local weather change consciousness programme organised for college students of Word of Faith School, Benin City, Edo.
The programme was organised by Nigeria News Source, a web-based newspaper targeted on environmental points, with assist from the Benin Youth Leaders Forum (BYLF), to commemorate the 2026 International Day of Climate Action.
The occasion with the theme: “Every Action Matters: Taking Individual Responsibility for Mitigating Climate Change Impact,” sought to encourage younger folks to undertake environmentally accountable habits in school and at house.
Speaking on the occasion, Chuks Oluigbo, Founder and Publisher of Nigeria News Source, stated tackling local weather change required collective motion by governments, companies and people.
“Businesses, governments, individuals — everyone is involved but for us, it begins with individuals.
“That is why we are moving beyond the generic and drilling down to the role every individual can play in protecting the environment and mitigating climate change impact,” he stated.
Oluigbo, a member of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), stated younger folks wanted to grasp that their actions at the moment would form the surroundings they and future generations would inherit.
“It is important for them to understand that the action they take or fail to take today will determine the kind of world they, their children and their grandchildren will inherit,” he stated.
He urged the scholars to embrace sustainable practices and perceive their accountability as caretakers of the surroundings.
“We want them to understand that we, as human beings, are created to be stewards or caretakers of creation.
“It is, therefore, our duty to do whatever it takes to protect creation and use everything that nature has bestowed on us in a sustainable manner,” he stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) experiences that the occasion featured the donation of two waste baskets to the college by Nigeria News Source to encourage correct waste separation.
Oluigbo stated one basket was designated for biodegradable waste and the opposite for non-biodegradable waste, urging the scholars to practise accountable waste disposal.
The visitor speaker, Dr Festus Atewe, a lecturer within the Department of Geography and Disaster Risk Management, University of Benin (UNIBEN), educated the scholars on the causes and results of local weather change and sensible methods to mitigate its affect.
Atewe inspired tree planting, explaining that timber take up carbon dioxide from the ambiance and helped mitigate local weather change.
“Whatever you do, the environment will definitely get back to you, if not now, then in the future,” he stated.
He suggested the scholars to shun bush burning, deforestation and different actions that contributed to greenhouse fuel emissions.
The lecturer additionally advocated for the usage of renewable vitality sources, notably solar energy, as alternate options to petrol- and diesel-powered mills.
Other measures he beneficial included planting timber round houses, adopting electrical and hybrid autos, and decreasing reliance on non-public automobiles via strolling, biking, car-pooling and public transportation.
Atewe urged the youths to change into environmental protectors relatively than destroyers by making climate-conscious decisions of their every day actions.
In her remarks, the college administrator, Mrs Peace Akan Sebastian, recommended the organisers for the initiative and pledged the college’s assist for actions selling environmental sustainability. (NAN)
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Edited by Chioma Ugboma
