World Environment Day: Experts Push for Urgent Climate Action as Environmental Crisis Deepens
By: Abudu Olalekan
Environmental experts, academics, and policy advocates gathered on Friday to sound the alarm — climate change isn’t some distant threat anymore. It’s here. And it’s hitting hard.
The occasion was the 2026 World Environment Day celebration, held at Igbinedion University, Okada, in Edo State. The theme this year? “Now for Climate.” Not tomorrow. Not next year. Now.
Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, leading Igbinedion University, spoke without holding back. Not merely a slogan, he stressed, the theme demands real movement. While heading both the university and Nigeria’s environmental practitioners group, he noted temperatures have pushed past 1.5°C beyond pre-industrial times. Scientists long marked that point as critical.
Floods come harder now. What if storms keep growing stronger? Lives hang on fragile natural systems – those are fraying fast. Down in the Niger Delta, damage piles high: rivers spill over, trees vanish, air turns thick. Picture villages breathing fumes while soil poisons crops. Each season feels less stable than the last.
Yet things weren’t bleak with Ezemonye. Hubs of learning and fresh ideas place colleges in a special spot, he argued. Because they gather minds and spark change, their duty to build answers stands clear.
From his seat, a nod toward Igbinedion University’s work on climate and sustainability stood clear. Not just promises – real movement lives there. Research thrives where trees speak and species matter. When it comes to forests, life forms, shifting climates, reuse systems, or how land gets shaped, minds are already digging in. Teachers plus learners dive into what grows, changes, survives. Action pulses behind quiet lab doors. Ideas form around survival, renewal, balance. Proof isn’t promised later – it shows up now, in data, in fieldwork, in thought.
Investing more here remains a priority, while pushing harder on eco-pledges woven through daily work and learning. Deeper dives into climate facts, rules shaping nature, and fresh clean solutions? That matters – living those choices even more.
Local Fixes for Worldwide Issues
Backed by Prof. Spencer Nwangchu, the Centre for Climate Change and SDGs began with a clear purpose. Not long after its start, he shared how global debates on nature often miss everyday realities. Instead of staying trapped in broad talk, it shifts focus to what actually works nearby. Studies guide the way, yet voices from neighborhoods shape decisions too. Action follows thought, because knowing isn’t enough when change waits.
Naming the tough parts came naturally to him too. When it comes to Edo State and the wider Niger Delta, troubles like constant floods, vanishing forests pop up alongside dirty air and water plus weaker crop harvests. Nothing distant about these struggles. Lives get shaped by them daily.
Fixing climate issues needs more than a single person trying hard. Governments must step up, universities dig deeper, companies act responsibly, community groups push forward, while regular people join too. A new move aims to turn World Environment Day into something lasting each year. This version will generate real studies, spark collaborations, shape useful policies, track actual progress. Forget empty talks and staged pictures alone.
Bassey Stresses Need for Greater Climate Resilience
Dr Nnimno Bassey stepped up to speak – leading the Health of Mother Earth Foundation with quiet authority built over years of standing firm for nature. Speaking not loud but deep, his words carried what long commitment earns: respect. Change begins by choosing ways that last, moving beyond harm, backing efforts that help communities bend without breaking when storms come. Support must flow where it strengthens roots, not just repairs damage after.
What stood out was Bassey’s push for teamwork across science, conservation, and growth projects – ones that renew instead of drain. That idea landed firmly among everyone present.
The Science Behind the Crisis
From her lab at Igbinedion University, Dr Wuraola Raji peeled back the layers using science. Fossil fuels burn – that’s one heavy push toward climate change there. Then come fires in open fields, adding thick smoke to the sky. Toss in how trash gets dumped without care, and you’ve got another piece of the puzzle growing worse. Each feeds into the larger problem in its own blunt way.
Out of nowhere, she started talking about how it actually works. Trapped gases, think carbon dioxide or methane, build up overhead, throw off Earth’s normal weather rhythms, then push temperatures higher faster. What happens next shows in swollen rivers, dried-out farms, empty shelves where food should be, families moving because their homes aren’t safe anymore – more troubles pile up just like that.
Raji told those in charge, along with groups and everyday people, that moving to greener power is now a must. Outdated trash handling needs fixing – no delay. She stressed how helping reduce harm can’t wait. This step isn’t up for debate, she added.
Students Taking the Lead
A voice that stood out belonged to Adegbemi Adaife, head of the campus group tackling plastic waste. Though still studying, his words carried weight – like he’d seen what happens when action waits.
Smoke from burnt plastic carries poisons into the air, Adaife said. That smoke? Full of tiny harmful particles messing with our lungs and nature. Most folks overlook this danger completely.
He mentioned the group has started gathering plastic trash, setting up ways to recycle, also spreading information around school grounds. Inside dorms they plan to hand out special containers for sorting rubbish – might seem minor, yet these ground-level moves build momentum slowly. Their aim? Making young people treat separating garbage and caring for nature like everyday habits without effort.
Climate Finance Is Still Not Where It Needs To Be
Money. That’s what Professor Georgina Erifeta focused on when she stepped into the climate discussion – not as a footnote, but front and center. Leading the Centre for Research, Innovation and Grants, her voice brought attention where it often doesn’t go. Instead of weather patterns or carbon counts, she peeled back the financial layer underneath. Most talks skip this part entirely. Hers didn’t. Funding shapes who gets heard, which ideas grow, whose solutions vanish quietly. By placing cash at the core, she shifted the ground beneath familiar arguments. Not with drama – just clarity. The real cost isn’t just in emissions. It lives in ledgers, budgets, choices made behind closed doors. She named that truth plainly.
She called climate finance the money pulled together to help cut emissions and adjust to changes across the globe. Truth is, plenty of cash already exists for environmental work. Yet how much reaches actual projects compared to what sits unused? A huge difference remains.
From her seat at the front, Erifeta called on Nigeria’s universities to move faster. Not just watch, but act – seize what’s within reach. Pour resources into studying climate shifts, creating new tools, tracking ecosystems, while strengthening community safeguards. These schools must lead, shaping answers through insight only deep inquiry can bring. What the nation lacks now is exactly what they’re built to deliver.
Trash Cans and True Promises
What stood out most that day? Thirty trash cans showed up, given to the school by SWARM – money came partly from the European Union. Seems minor at first glance, yet it carries weight. Change often begins quietly. With proper tools in place across campus, handling garbage better becomes possible, maybe even likely. Not huge, but meaningful.
When the event ended, people said similar things. Stronger ties between groups now matter just as much as getting policies right. Good environmental teaching has become essential. Real involvement from locals can no longer be ignored. These are not add-ons. They must happen. Climate dangers are increasing. Damage to nature keeps rising. There is less time left to act – each day narrows the chance.
Each person walked out knowing delay wasn’t an option.
