From the 7th of December, world leaders, climate change activists and environmental experts will gather in Denmark for the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.
On their agenda will be the updating of the Kyoto Protocol, the historic agreement on fighting climate change adopted twelve years ago. Regarding the issue of emissions, industrialised countries have typically been the greatest culprits.
The United States is the world's most guilty offender, contributing no less than a quarter of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions, second only to China. But regardless of its level of culpability, one thing is clear: the United States will never hesitate to make its stand known regarding the issue of climate change.
Its stubborn refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol is an example. No one has any doubts where America stands. Nigeria ratified the Kyoto Protocol five years ago, but one cannot say with any confidence that the Nigerian government has succeeded in articulating any coherent climate change policy, or taken a stand that it will present or defend at Copenhagen - if it chooses to send representatives, that is.
Whether we evolve a position or not, the country is already clearly at the mercy of the negative effects of climate change. Experts have recently warned of the imminent danger of losing Lagos to the advancing Atlantic Ocean, if global warming continues unchallenged. Up North, desertification is ravaging huge swathes of viable land.
It is sad that, as Copenhagen approaches, what makes it into the newspaper headlines in the country is news of an ecological funds scandal. While the world ‘burns', we resort to what we know best, throwing accusations and counter-accusations of financial mismanagement. As one of Africa's leading countries, Nigeria ought to play a more active role in the climate change debate. We should begin to rally other African countries, so that Copenhagen, and subsequent fora do not take place without active contributions from the continent.
For too long Africa has been content to alternate between playing the dumb spectator and the helpless beneficiary of Western goodwill. It is high time the continent started to speak boldly and contribute to global debates. The alternative is to continue to allow the world to make decisions on our behalf - which has hardly ever turned out for our good.
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