By Godwin Agia, Taraba
Taraba State Governor, Dr Agbu Kefas, has launched the state’s Climate Change Policy and Action Plan, declaring that the future of the state’s forests, rivers, agriculture and communities now depends on urgent and collective action.
Unveiling the policy in Jalingo on Friday, Kefas said the document was not merely another government policy but a clear decision on the kind of Taraba the present generation would leave for those coming after it.
“We are taking the decision about the future of Taraba. We are deciding whether our forests will still be standing and whether our rivers will still be flowing,” the governor said.
Kefas warned that the effects of climate change were already being felt across the state, particularly through unpredictable rainfall patterns and drying rivers, which he said were placing increasing pressure on farmers and vulnerable communities.
He said the new policy would cover critical sectors including agriculture, health, infrastructure and education, stressing that environmental considerations must now be embedded in government planning and development programmes.
The governor consequently charged ministries, departments and agencies, traditional institutions, local government councils and residents to take ownership of the policy and ensure its implementation translates into visible changes at the grassroots.
He particularly stressed the role of local governments, noting that challenges such as flooding, bush burning and environmental degradation are experienced primarily at the community level.
According to him, no climate policy can succeed if it fails to address the realities confronting farmers.
“Any climate policy that does not support our farmers will not succeed,” Kefas said, while urging residents to protect forests, plant trees and discourage indiscriminate bush burning.
The governor also called for improved waste management across the state, warning that climate action would remain ineffective if streets and drainage channels continued to be blocked by indiscriminate waste disposal.
He said the success of the policy would not be judged by the number of conferences, workshops or official pronouncements held, but by measurable improvements in communities.
Kefas called on the Federal Government, the National Council on Climate Change, development partners and other stakeholders to support Taraba in translating the policy into concrete climate-resilience programmes.
He described Taraba as a state blessed with mountains, rivers and vast forest resources, stressing that protecting these natural assets was essential to the state’s economic and environmental future.
The governor declared that climate action had become a permanent component of his administration’s development agenda.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Hajiya Aishat B. Barde, described the launch as the beginning of a new phase of coordinated and measurable climate action in the state.
Barde urged ministries, departments and agencies, local governments, traditional institutions, communities, youth and women groups, the private sector and development partners to embrace their responsibilities under the policy.
She said climate action was a shared responsibility requiring sustained commitment, coordination and collective effort.
According to her, the policy would position Taraba to build an environmentally sustainable, economically prosperous and climate-resilient state.
Barde acknowledged the financial and technical contributions of Natural Eco Capital, Society for Planet and Prosperity, and the African Climate Foundation to the development and launch of the policy.
She also commended Governor Kefas for creating an enabling environment and placing climate action among the priorities of his administration.
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