IPU: Kalu Proposes Global Legislative Action on Climate Disasters
Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has proposed structured legislative interventions across the globe as an urgent parliamentary action to address climate-related disasters and strengthen resilience in vulnerable regions.
Speaking during a debate on ‘Urgent Parliamentary Action to Address Climate-related Disasters and Strengthen Resilience” at the ongoing 153rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Arusha, Tanzania, Kalu said the debate must move beyond pledges to practical, bankable legislative actions that deliver for people and economies.
He said that the structured global legislative intervention should however be built on two pillars of an investor-ready pipeline of priority projects across clean energy, transport, agriculture, resilient infrastructure and circular economy; and a project-preparation and transaction-support platform that helps move viable projects from concept to bankability, financing and implementation.
The Deputy Speaker urged lawmakers to see themselves as architects of legal certainty and public accountability required for a resilient, competitive and sustainable economy, combining sound legislation, credible institutions, sub-national innovation and international capital to transform the goals of the Paris Agreement into practical progress.
“Distinguished colleagues, we can combine sound legislation, credible
institutions, subnational innovation and international capital to transform
the goals of the Paris Agreement into practical progress for the people of
Nigeria and other developing countries”.
Kalu argued that for Nigeria, climate action is not an abstract environmental aspiration, but a livelihood and economic issue.
“For Nigeria, climate action is not an abstract environmental aspiration, but about whether a farmer can harvest despite changing rainfall patterns; whether a family can access affordable and reliable electricity; whether a young person can find dignified work in a modern economy; whether our cities can withstand floods; and whether Africa’s largest economy can industrialise without reproducing the environmental vulnerabilities of the past,” he said.
He lamented the delays in implementations of agreements, saying that for too long, the international climate dialogue has been defined by ambitious pledges that have not been matched by adequate, accessible and affordable finance for developing countries.
According to him, Nigeria is not at the Assembly merely to restate needs, but to present an opportunity.
He said the country is inviting investors to co-finance a growing pipeline of commercially viable, climate-resilient projects supported by law, public policy, accountable institutions and a legislature committed to delivery.
