Onuigbo Calls for Integrated Action to Address Climate Change, Poverty, and Land Degradation

Member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State and the Head of Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment(GLOBE International) in Africa, Rep. Sam Onuigbo says the world must explore means of integrating actions on combating or mitigating climate change, biodiversity governance, desertification and land degradation, with addressing critical Sustainable Development Goals such as poverty, food security, energy, etc.

Onuigbo was speaking as Chair of the GLOBE COP27 Legislators Summit which held in Cairo, Egypt, on November 8-9, 2022.

Highlighting that in addressing climate change, there is need to explore the obvious ways in which climate actions can solve pressing problems in Africa, the federal lawmaker said the “world must therefore wake up to the need to find a way to carry out aggregated actions to address these issues by placing a finger on the pulse of the interconnectedness between them.”

Onuigbo chaired the two-day summit for legislators from across the world with presentations from Miriam Mendel, Chief of External Relations, Policy and Advocacy of the United Nations Convention for Combating Desertification; Professor Wadid Erian of the University of Cairo; Senator Raúl Bolaños-Cacho Cué of the Republic of Mexico; Senator Rosa Galvez of the Canadian Senate; Honourable Barry Gardiner MP of the British Parliament; Anita Neville who is the sustainability communicator and Group Corps Comms for Golden Agri Resources, Singapore; Jackson Kimani, Chief Executive Officer of Climate Action for Africa; Marcelo de Andrade, Chair and Founder of the Pro-Natura Network; Kristina Veitola Director, Corporate Affairs, circular economy and packaging at Tetra Pak; Hon. Amira Saber Qandil an Egyptian MP and Secretary General of the Foreign Relations Committee; Hon. Keisuke Suzuki, member of the Japanese House of Representatives;

Others were Yuliia Ovchynnykova, member of the Ukrainian Parliament; Hon. Fawzia Koofi, first woman Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Afghanistan; Senator Fabiano Contarato of the Brazilian Parliament; Hon. Biyika Lawrence Songa of the Ugandan Parliamentarian famed for sponsoring Uganda’s Climate Change Act; Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, Justice of the High Court of Brazil; Mr. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah,Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan; Honourable Saber Hossain Chowdhury, member of the Bangladesh Parliament and Honorary President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU); among others.

The Summit with the theme “Delivering on the Rio Conventions: an integrated approach to climate, nature, desertification, and risk governance,” provided Rep. Onuigbo with the platform to discuss pathways to effectively legislating for the climate while addressing critical issues facing communities globally.