As part of its contributions to the ongoing 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom, Solution17 for Climate Action and Naija Climate Now, held a group art exhibition tagged “Naija Climate Now: Race to Zero-Emission”.
Venue was British High Commissioner Ben Llewellyn-Jones’ residence in Lagos.
The exhibition, which featured four artists, who completed the ‘Art for Climate Change’ on 17 Canvases, was to showcase sustainable art that aims to provoke innovative responses on enhancing climate resilience, green economic recovery, and low-carbon development for Nigeria and worldwide.
The paintings were divided into four categories: ‘limiting global temperature by 1.5 °C’; ‘climate adaptation’; ‘climate finance’; and ‘collaborations’.
According to the Project Director of Solution17 for Climate Action and Naija Climate Now, Foluke Michael, “A Life of Our Planet’ by Sir David Attenborough provoked and inspired the artists and innovators to produce 17 works of art, scheduled for virtual exhibition.
Michael urged everyone to act for Climate Change, noting that the journey that began in June 2021 has produced 34 finalists across Nigeria and four climate change artists.
“Why Naija Climate Now? Let us take a quick peep into the future: By the 2030s, there’ll be a significant reduction in rainforest until it can no longer produce enough moisture. Species will be lost and increase in the speed of global warming. 2040s greenhouse gas will be many times more potent than carbon dioxide, thus, accelerating the rate of climate change dramatically. 2050s – As the ocean becomes more acidic due to heat, coral reefs die around the world. Fish populations crash significantly. 2080s – Global food production enters a crisis as soils become exhausted by overuse. Pollinating insects disappear. The weather becomes unpredictable. 2100s – Our planet becomes four degrees Celsius warmer. Large parts of the earth are uninhabitable. Millions of people will be rendered homeless. There will be mass extinction everywhere. And our Garden of Eden will be lost,” she said.
“Big thanks to Sir David Attenborough for inspiring us at Solution17 for Climate Action. His Documentary – ‘A Life on Our Planet,’ inspired our climate artists to produce 17 Masterpieces! Back at home, we are mobilising everyone across Nigeria to act for Climate Change through Education, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology. ART will help us reach our goals pretty quickly.”
Llewellyn-Jones stated that climate change is a common concern for countries, which is a threat. (Nation)