Adaptation to Climate Change Effects on Water Resources: Understanding Institutional Barriers in Nigeria

Sola Ojo,Eike Albrecht,Bachar Ibrahim,Henry Mensah

doi:10.3390/cli8110134

Abstract

Climate Change (CC) and variability are global issues that the world has been facing for a long time. Given the recent catastrophic events, such as flooding, erosion, and drought in Nigeria, many have questioned institutions’ capacity in managing CC impacts in Nigeria. This study explores emerging institutional barriers of adaptation to CC effects on water resources in Nigeria. The study data were obtained from in-depth interviews with institutional heads from water resources management and emergency management and a review of secondary literature from databases such as Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. The results show that inadequate hydrological data management, low awareness on how to adapt among the public and decision-makers, financial constraints, no political will to pass important bills into law, and inadequate institutional and legal framework are the main institutional barriers of adaptation to climate change in Nigeria. The study concludes that it is essential to strengthen the institutional and legal system, information management mechanism, public awareness, and participatory water resources management. The implications for further research are presented in the study.

Highlights

Climate projections have shown that water resources are vulnerable and can be strongly influenced by climate variability with wide-ranging implications on the human population and ecosystem [1,2].For example, Climate Change (CC) has contributed to flooding, water scarcity, erosion, low water quality, droughts, salt-water intrusion and reduction in groundwater sources; making communities, living and non-living components of the environment vulnerable [3]
This study aims to identify institutional barriers of adaptation to CC effects on water resources in Nigeria and how these barriers affect institutions and suggest how these barriers can be surmounted
The research sought the consent from to interviewees beforeremain the interviews were the numerous opportunities from adaptation

Summary

Introduction

Climate projections have shown that water resources are vulnerable and can be strongly influenced by climate variability with wide-ranging implications on the human population and ecosystem [1,2].For example, Climate Change (CC) has contributed to flooding, water scarcity, erosion, low water quality, droughts, salt-water intrusion and reduction in groundwater sources; making communities, living and non-living components of the environment vulnerable [3]. Climate projections have shown that water resources are vulnerable and can be strongly influenced by climate variability with wide-ranging implications on the human population and ecosystem [1,2]. National water resources master plan highlighted the effects of CC on water demand, water resources potential, and water balance in Nigeria [4]. It was observed that the effects will include changes in air temperature, which could result in low yearly runoff of about 20%. The response of runoff against drastic changes in rainfall is more obvious in the region with less precipitation, especially in the northern region of the country. In Nigeria, the water resources master plan shows that the average annual temperature and precipitation in Nigeria from 1960 to 2009 was estimated to be 1118 mm/year and 26.6 degrees

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion