GAIA Nigeria and other civil society organizations in environment have called on the public to embrace the opportunities of transiting to zero waste to save the planet. 

This was made known in a one-day webinar organized by Gaia Nigeria with the theme, Transiting to Zero Waste, Challenges and Opportunities.

In his introduction of the webinar, Program Manager of Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Maimoni Ubrei-Joe stated that the webinar was organized to broaden the web of solutions around waste in the environment and to create awareness on zero waste. 

Also presenting the outcomes of the recent UN Plastics Treaty negotiation in Paris and the findings of the delegation of GAIA Nigeria, the Executive Director of Community Development Advocacy Foundation, Richard Benin revealed that the outcomes following  five days of negotiations  included an agreement to develop a zero draft treaty text for a future binding treaty on plastics, discuss on the 12 core obligations options for the new binding global plastic treaty, support by many governments for global measures to reduce plastic production, regulate the waste trade, ensure chemical transparency and ban single-use plastics

He added that the third round of negotiations will be held in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2023, the fourth round in Canada in April 2024, and then in South Korea in October 2024.

The first presentation on the challenge of Transiting to Zero Waste was given by the Executive Director of Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADeV), Dr Leslie Adogame who pointed out that Africa and Nigeria are far behind in entrenching the concept of zero waste while focusing on zero solutions. 

While speaking on the opportunities of transiting to Zero waste, the Executive Director of Center for Earth Work, Benson Dotun Fasanya opined that the concept of Zero waste can be transformed into a means of job creation to recover resources and to save the planet by putting an end to incineration. 

On his part, the Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Barr. Chima Williams encouraged members of GAIA Nigeria to look inward to see how policies and ground activities can be expanded in various states to achieve a compendium of zero waste programs across Nigeria. 

The Program Officer of ERA/FoEN, Melody Enyinnaya gave a breakdown of the achievements and accomplishments of ERA and other organizations in their work to promote Zero waste.

The webinar had over 50 participants from the  coalition of 9 organizations which include Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev), Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE), Centre for Earth Work (CFEW), Green Knowledge Foundation (GKF), Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF), Policy Alert, Lekeh Development Foundation and Community Action Against Plastic Waste (CAPWs).