though people naturally exhibit some adaptive responses to climate variability, different levels of vulnerability to climatic changes still exist. - ‪Anthonia Achike‬

While mitigation may be very difficult and expensive especially for individuals and even government, concerted policy based efforts on adaptation are on-going. Mitigation alone cannot solve the problem as climate change and variabilities have components that are outside the control of human beings. Therefore adaptation is important as a necessary complement. Mitigation relative to adaptation requires a lot of policies not just simple “precautionary measures by individuals” as you said.

According to reports of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Africans especially Sub-Sahara Africans are more vulnerable to climate change and unfortunately they have the least capability of adapting to its deleterious effects. This has been responsible for crop yield losses, disease outbreaks that affect humans, livestock and crops; loss of fishing grounds and water bodies; extreme weather events such as flood, desertification with the associated consequences of famine, massive death of livestock and communal conflicts that arise from what we now call “environmental migration” as has been recently witnessed in Nigeria between Fulani nomads and crop farmers in the middle belt and some other parts of Nigeria.

Individuals can take advantage of climate change by engaging in innovative business such as designing solar energy based products, marketing of such products and utilizing inputs that will not give harmful effluents in the environment. We must think green economy and green business. There is much to be done by the individuals but the governments, firms and international agencies also have a lot to do too.