Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) has urged Nigerian tertiary institutions to take a bigger role in tackling climate change by driving innovation, research, and partnerships beyond the classroom.
The Executive Director of EDEN, Chima Williams, made the call at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike (FUNAI), Ebonyi State, during the 2026 International Multidisciplinary Hybrid Conference on Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability: Global Perspectives and Local Issues.
Williams, the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize winner for Africa, attended the event as the special guest and keynote speaker.
He described the conference as part of his “homecoming.”
He, however, donated exotic fruit and ornamental trees to the university on behalf of EDEN and CHIMA WILLIAMS & ASSOCIATES, where he serves as principal.
Williams said climate change has moved beyond scientific predictions and now affects everyday life across the world.
He listed rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, heat waves, destructive floods, sea-level rise, biodiversity loss, desertification, and growing threats to food security and public health as clear signs of the crisis.
He stressed that environmental sustainability goes beyond protecting nature, adding that it also concerns justice, development, human rights, peace, and human survival.
Williams noted that the international community has introduced major agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement.
However, greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, while vulnerable communities, especially in developing countries, still carry the heaviest burden.
Williams said Nigeria reflects this global challenge, noting that communities continue to suffer from oil pollution, gas flaring, deforestation, erosion, flooding, desertification, and the effects of changing weather patterns.
He added that the Niger Delta remains one of the world’s most environmentally damaged regions.
He also said northern Nigeria faces worsening desert encroachment and water shortages, while coastal communities battle erosion and rising sea levels.
According to him, many urban centres also struggle with flooding caused by poor planning and weak waste management.
Williams said the climate crisis also offers an opportunity to rethink development, improve energy systems, restore damaged ecosystems, encourage circular economies, and build more sustainable and resilient societies.
He added that today’s decisions will shape the environmental legacy passed to future generations.
Williams urged participants to work across different disciplines, question existing ideas, and continue sharing innovative solutions after the conference. He maintained that environmental justice protects both nature and humanity.
At the end of his keynote address, he asked the university management to support the creation of a FUNAI branch of the Students Environmental Assembly Nigeria (SEAN).
Through the association, he pledged two annual awards: the Vice Chancellor’s Award for the Cleanest Faculty with a cash prize of NGN200,000.00 and the Dean of Faculty of Arts Award for the Cleanest Hostel with NGN100,000.00.
External Links
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): https://unfccc.int/
Paris Agreement on Climate Change: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
Goldman Environmental Prize: https://www.goldmanprize.org/
