Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that beyond the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions globally, efforts being undertaken to address climate change must also take into consideration its implications on social justice and inequalities, especially for the poor and vulnerable in developing economies.
The VP made this submission yesterday at a public lecture he delivered on “Africa and Climate Justice” at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada on the last leg of his 3-day official working visit to the North American country.
Buttressing his point on the concept of Climate Justice as a just and equitable transition to clean energy, Prof Osinbajo stated that “the notion of climate justice insists that in addition to discussions on greenhouse gas emissions and the need to reduce them, we also recognize that climate change is an inherently social issue with important social justice implications.”
Continuing, he argued that, “we need to reframe our climate action paradigm from merely a technical effort to cut emissions, to an approach that places people and addressing social inequality at the centre of our efforts.
“This is based on the reality that while climate change is already affecting every inhabited region across the globe and no place on earth will be immune to its effects, the impact will be different across key regions and groups.”
The VP pointed out that it is the “poor and vulnerable, largely in developing economies,” who “will be first to suffer and worst hit by the effects of climate change even though they are the least culpable for the climate crisis.”