The Buhari's Climate Change Article
Quote from Ndubuisi Ekekwe on November 11, 2022, 9:18 PMNuanced, balanced, incisive and clinical - that was a nice piece by Mr. President . This post reminds me of a conversation I had with former US vice president Al Gore in TED when I asked him: Mr. Vice President, why must American energy companies flare gas in Nigeria when they cannot do the same in their home country, even as they claim they practice global best practices across all domains? He responded: they can do that in Nigeria and get away, but in America, they face penalties - you have to ask your leaders to lead.
And that is it - Europe has shown that climate change is a theoretical construct when energy insecurity is on the way. Yes, they are restarting coal plants, extending the lives of nuclear plants, etc, because they need to replace energy sources which Ukraine-Russia war has cut-off.
So, as it stands: no one wants to score an own-goal. African leaders including Mr. Buhari must not expect Europe, US, Canada, etc to save Africa from any paralysis from climate change. Beyond articles and talks, our leaders have many things they can do (afforestation of savannah, controlled lumbering, etc) before the Western world can pay attention.
Nuanced, balanced, incisive and clinical - that was a nice piece by Mr. President . This post reminds me of a conversation I had with former US vice president Al Gore in TED when I asked him: Mr. Vice President, why must American energy companies flare gas in Nigeria when they cannot do the same in their home country, even as they claim they practice global best practices across all domains? He responded: they can do that in Nigeria and get away, but in America, they face penalties - you have to ask your leaders to lead.
And that is it - Europe has shown that climate change is a theoretical construct when energy insecurity is on the way. Yes, they are restarting coal plants, extending the lives of nuclear plants, etc, because they need to replace energy sources which Ukraine-Russia war has cut-off.
So, as it stands: no one wants to score an own-goal. African leaders including Mr. Buhari must not expect Europe, US, Canada, etc to save Africa from any paralysis from climate change. Beyond articles and talks, our leaders have many things they can do (afforestation of savannah, controlled lumbering, etc) before the Western world can pay attention.
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