By Ahmed Akanbi

Sponsor of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act, Rt. Hon. Sir Sam Onuigbo, has been inaugurated as President of GLOBE Legislators, the world’s first cross-party network of parliamentarians working on climate action and sustainable development.

Onuigbo was sworn in during the 35th anniversary celebration of GLOBE Legislators held at the Churchill Room of the House of Commons, UK Parliament, in the presence of lawmakers and stakeholders from across the globe.

In his inaugural address, the new GLOBE President pledged to strengthen parliamentary engagement in climate governance and deepen international cooperation on environmental challenges.

The anniversary event brought together parliamentarians and policy actors from Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific to mark 35 years of GLOBE’s legislative advocacy on climate change, biodiversity conservation and desertification.

Onuigbo paid tribute to the founders of GLOBE, including former United States Vice President Al Gore, former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and legislators from Europe, Japan and Russia who established the organisation in 1991.

He said the founders created GLOBE to ensure that international climate agreements are translated into enforceable national laws and policies, and to keep climate issues on parliamentary agendas worldwide.

According to him, the network has been pivotal in promoting cross-party involvement in climate action and has helped shape legislative frameworks on climate change, biodiversity and land degradation across several countries.

Onuigbo traced his own climate advocacy to GLOBE, recalling that his participation at the GLOBE Legislators Summit during COP21 in Paris inspired his push for Nigeria’s Climate Change Act.

“The summit challenged parliamentarians to return home and pursue climate legislation. I came back to Nigeria and never looked back. Today, Nigeria’s climate action journey has advanced significantly because of the Climate Change Act,” he stated.

As President, he highlighted GLOBE’s growing role as the focal point of the Parliamentary Group of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, and its work at global climate conferences.

He noted that GLOBE successfully hosted Parliamentary Pavilions at COP28 in Dubai and COP29 in Baku, and that the network plans to continue the initiative at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey.

Onuigbo outlined his priorities, promising to promote green investments, strengthen climate education in schools, expand capacity-building programmes for lawmakers, and foster stronger collaboration with governments, development agencies, civil society and the private sector.

The former lawmaker stressed the need to mainstream climate education globally so that young people are equipped with the knowledge and skills to lead the transition to a sustainable future.

He announced plans to expand GLOBE’s Student-MP Climate Surgery initiative, which was piloted in Nigeria in 2022 to increase youth participation in climate advocacy and policy discussions, and he called on legislators, donor agencies, development banks and academics to support parliamentary action on climate.