Presentation

Law and Climate Change in Nigeria

The presentation commences by explaining climate change with a short definition. Several issues are then discussed under the following heading : Climatic change versus global warming. Which are the greenhouse gases? Consequences of climate change. Two responses to global climate change: mitigation and adaptation. In Table 1: Selected Key Mitigation Technologies are explained in brief. In Table 2: Selected Adaptation Options/Strategies are explained. The Role of Law: Law clearly will be central to restructuring and re-orientating conducts and activities that were hitherto accepted as safe, but, now found to be contributing to climate change. The Kyoto Protocol – which was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005 was the subject of tough negotiations as a result of the political difficulties faced by the USA in setting significant reduction targets. The document concludes stating that we must recognize that actions are needed to meet the challenges of climate change. We must also recognize that implementable effective actions are possible. Finally, we must recognize that the law has a major role to play.