Worried by the greenhouse gas emissions and its effect on human beings and the environment, the Enugu State Government has launched an aggressive campaign targeted at regulating and curtailing the harmful impacts posed by the emissions and other activities capable of eroding the climate.
The state government, as a deliberate step to achieving this, has commenced training and capacity building programme on environment and climate change for staff of the state’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and other public workers.
The government stressed that the governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, was poised for a net-zero commitment to making a huge difference in the fight against climate change.
Speaking at the training on Thursday, via Zoom at a training session orgainsed for the staff in Enugu, the Senior Advisor to the Governor on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, said the state was commencing the series of training and capacity building with the staff of the Ministry to help them lead the campaign and mitigate the activities threatening the environment.
He noted that the government would stop at nothing in restoring a livable, friendly and healthy ecology in the state, even as he maintained that the campaign and sensitisation were designed in phases for communities, schools, industrialists, stakeholders, and town-hall engagements on later dates.
On his part, an environmental consultant, Mr. Ozorgwu Chinedu, who spoke on the theme, “Monitoring Tools and Checklist for Telecom Infrastructure,” introduced staff of the Ministry to the different approaches and tools of monitoring telecommunication infrastructure and evaluating their impacts on the environment.
According to him, these tools could be used to check the ratios of radiation, gases, noise from telecom infrastructure and how they affect the environment, warning that lack of compliance to globally accepted standard provided by the Environmental Impact Assessment Act as well as the National Environmental (Standard for Telecoms & Broadcast Facilities) Regulations, 2011,
could spell doom to human existence.
Mr. Chinedu underscored the importance of having telecom infrastructure frequently monitored and checked because of their negative impacts on the ecosystem.
He stated that most telecoms were using generators to power their networks, thus releasing nauseous gases to the air and causing harm to the environment over time.
“These greenhouse gases or emissions go up to the atmosphere, and subsequently trap heat which make the planet warmer. It is only when you monitor these infrastructures that you can see the extent of what they produce and the effect of their pollution,” he said.
He further called for proper management and disposal of waste such as used batteries, which contain heavy metals with greater potential to cause havoc to the environment.
“We must be mindful of the open dumping of hazardous and non-hazardous materials, which usually find their way to bodies of water and cause harm,” he added.
Among the topics the consultant focused on were how to use the radio frequency/electromagnetic frequency, GPS, units of measurements of emission and radiation, guidelines/reference values and limit standards for electrical and electronics, use of multi-gas detection, mobile telephony and the environment and hazard spotting.
Commending Prof. Chukwumerije for accepting to work for the state government on climate, the Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Prof. Sam Ugwu, said the administration of Dr. Mbah remained focused and committed to join leading sub-nationals to address the challenges of climate change.
The commissioner stressed that the training would help staff of his Ministry to update their knowledge on the use of modern climate facilities and technology, adding that the state had joined the global voice for climate regulation and environmental protection.
According to him, the state government has introduced some measures to ensure that some of the negative impacts of greenhouse emissions are mitigated.
“One of the steps we have taken is the sealing of illegal mines because these mining activities damage our environment, including our water bodies” he stated.
He explained that the state was now investing in clean and renewable energy to protect the environment.
“The New Enugu City is going to be a smart city and it’s going to be green-friendly.
“We are also looking at electric vehicles that will not pollute our environment. So, we have started the process of sensitising our people on how to efficiently manage their environment for a healthy living,” he concluded.
