The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has called on all stakeholders and citizens to redouble their focus on attitudes and practices that will protect the ecosystem if the country must achieve sustainable development.
The minister said this at the maiden edition of the 2022 Environmental Sustainability Conference, Expo and Awards with the theme, ‘Only one earth: Towards a safer environment,’ which took place in Lagos.
The minister who was represented by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority, Abeokuta, Otunba Olufemi Odumosu, explained that in recent times, the earth’s natural system had been struggling to keep up with man’s unending demands.
He noted that the demands include food provision, clean water, medicines, climate regulation and protection from extreme weather conditions.
“Hence, the urgent need for the human race to collectively act against further anthropogenic emissions of gases, as this not only hurts the earth, but everyone living in it because a healthy environment is essential for our continued survival and the achievement of all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
Also speaking on the same theme in the second Keynote presentation, an environmentalist, the Chairman, Lekki Urban Forest and Animal Shelter Initiative, Desmond Majekodunmi, said, “We are in the midst of a crisis. Global warming, climate change, and the devastating loss of biodiversity are the greatest threats that humanity has ever faced.”
In his welcome address, the Convener of ECOSEA, Joshua Ajayi, said the event is the first step in a journey he hopes would continue for many years into the future.
