Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Rivers State House of Assembly has announced plans to domesticate the Climate Change Act, signaling a legislative push to address the growing impact of climate change on the state’s environment.
Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Dumle Maol, disclosed this recently at the unveiling of a community-led research on Loss and Damage in Ogoni, conducted by the African Indigenous Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development.
According to the Deputy Speaker, the proposed domestication process will establish a State Governing Council, which will operate in alignment with the National Council based in Abuja.
“Though a Governing Council will be put in place at the state level, it will be guided by the National Council in Abuja,” Maol said.
He stressed the importance of public participation in the legislative process, calling on stakeholders and residents of Rivers State to engage fully during the public hearing stage.
“I appeal to all stakeholders and indeed Rivers people to participate in the public hearing and buy in fully,” he said, adding that broad participation would give the state “the opportunity to highlight and mitigate the issues surrounding the impact of climate change on our Rivers environment.”
The move comes amid increasing advocacy around climate-related loss and environmental degradation in Ogoniland and other parts of Rivers State, with the state lawmakers indicating readiness to align state actions with national climate policy frameworks.
